OR CHRIST’S RE-BORN DISCIPLES?”

Examine our vast world of population explosion on every continent and every nation of the vast world and their divided allegiances between the ‘kingdom of darkness’ and Christ’s “Kingdom of Light”! There ARE those deceived who believe in the reality of “mixed blessings”, assuming: “I’m devoted to Christ, but I enjoy and am excited by, at times, my ‘fleshly indulgences’. You see, I think God understands that one can have the best of both worlds.” Really?

It’s so illuminating and convicting and convincing about one’s choosing to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and His passions OR, though ‘believing’, to find one’s self “deceived by the powers of darkness”!

In Joshua 24:14-15 we read of Joshua challenging his people, Israel, who’d been in bondage but by the grace of God had been freed. Joshua said: “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and ‘put away the gods which your fathers served’ on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seeks evil to you to serve the Lord, CHOOSE FOR YOURSELVES THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.”

But, you are aware that there are some ‘religious zealots’ who serve Satan thinking they’re servants of Christ! In 2 Peter 2:12-22 Peter enlightens servants of Christ, if they want to be, exposing the “pretenders” who are “presumptuous, and self-willed”! He said of them: “But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed (which they will be before the judgment seat of Christ!), speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will UTTERLY PERISH IN THEIR OWN CORRUPTION, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. (Of course, some prefer the “darkness”!). They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions WHILE THEY FEAST WITH YOU (the true believers!), having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and ARE ACCURSED CHILDREN. They HAVE FORSAKEN THE RIGHT WAY AND GONE ASTRAY, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.

These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. (That’s a shocker isn’t it? Peter mentions “the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error”, becoming prime targets of Satan and the powers of darkness!). While they promise them liberty, they themselves are SLAVES OF CORRUPTION; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. (Do you understand that? Satan has deceived, blinded, equipped and trained those who, yes, were given liberty, but he makes them slaves of corruption!).

For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and ‘a sow having washed, to her wallowing in the mire’.” WOW!

Do you remember what Paul wrote to Titus? In Titus 3:3-7 lay hold of both ‘fleshly deceit’ OR “the kindness and the love of God”! Paul said: “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived,( by whom? Satan and his equipped ‘deceivers’?), serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. BUT when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, BUT ACCORDING TO HIS MERCY HE SAVED US, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Once known sinners were ‘foolish’, once they walked in disobedience, deceived by Satan, indulging in various lusts and pleasures, easily angered, easily hateful, but then, “I got saved and baptized, joined the church, enjoying the ‘fellowship’, as I do as I please spiritually or fleshly,” strongly suggesting they are under the influence of the powers of darkness!

The saddest thing I could ever imagine is a man who is born a sinner and continues under the Hell-inspired head of darkness, Satan, but “believes in Jesus” in the best of ‘head knowledge’, and not understanding Christ Jesus is his Savior, his Healer, and Emancipator from the rule and darkness of Satan! How many have you encountered who just ‘sit and watch’ as the world Christ died for becomes consigned to Hell because they “played the game of both worlds,” the kingdom of Satan and The Eternal Kingdom of the Resurrected, Reigning Christ?

The Holy Word is fully aware of how Satan sought to influence Job adversely saying to God, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing?…but You, God, stretch out Your hand and touch all that Job has, and he’ll surely curse You to Your face!” And God allowed Satan to take on all Job had but not to lay a hand on his person! Satan stripped Job, and Job’s wife wanted him to “Curse God and die! But Job responded, to her, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” And the Holy Word then says: “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

Thank God for men like Paul who stood strong against ‘disciples of Christ’ with tendencies of walking both sides of the street of faith And disobedience! I don’t think Colossians 1 is an encouragement in one’s accepting Christ that what your old life was without Him is acceptable as you walk with Him in the Spirit-realm now! Colossians 1:18-23, and Verses 26-28, IS a powerful Word about “Striving according to His (God in Christ!) working which works in me mightily” so Paul wouldn’t be a “split-personality servant” of Christ and Satan! He said: Colossians 1:18-23 first: “And He (Christ Jesus) is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Get ready!!).

And YOU, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight – IF INDEED you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached (Is that message “Christ in you the HOPE OF GLORY”? You’ll see it in a few seconds!) to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.” [Did Paul mention those who were “alienated and enemies in their minds by wicked works” – but you don’t, won’t, or can’t see Satan as the author of the “Book of revolt against God’s plan” with his desire to use slaves of darkness to build his kingdom of darkness with his darkened help?].

Now: Verses 26-28 of Colossians 1! “…the mystery which has been hidden from ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: WHICH IS CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”

And Satan’s realm, not only in Hell, in the world at large, but even in some churches or denominations that flourish on “Christian activities” but fail miserably in revealing “The Indwelling Christ”, because they don’t like: “dying daily that Christ may be exalted through us; it just doesn’t measure up to OUR ‘religious understanding’!”

I love what Dr. Charles Stanley wrote in his book entitled, “When The Enemy Strikes”. There was a section in his book, (p.200), entitled “Be Bold In Your Testimony About Jesus”. He said: “Your testimony is not based upon what you believe, what you have done, or what you are doing. Your testimony is based upon who Jesus is in your life, what He has done on your behalf, and what He desires to do in you, in your family, and through you and your family to others in your community.

When you hear a lie being told by a family member, speak the truth of God’s Word. When you hear statements of doubt about God’s love or about God’s provision, speak the truth of God’s Word.

When you hear a family member take the Lord’s name in vain, speak the truth about who Jesus is, who God is, and who the Holy Spirit is. [And I say, JFF, be sure your identify Satan’s activities as, yes, he seeks to destroy your marriage, your family, and your witness!].

Don’t allow yourself to become comfortable with “just a little sin” in your family. A little arsenic spoils a plate of food – a little cyanide poisons a large body of water. (And I,JFF, say: “Be careful when Satan seeks to poison the waters of your family’s faith by denying Biblical Truth, even truth about the devil and demons!). Sin is deadly. It pollutes and infects and destroys. (So does Satan’s lies!). Don’t develop a tolerance for any amount of it in your life or the lives of loved ones.

If you allow yourself to be comfortable with sin (Or Satanic deception!), you soon will begin to defend the presence of sin (and you’ll even find yourself defending Satanic demonology!) – to justify it and to give place to it. Deal with those issues that underlie a person’s willingness to commit sin or to act in rebellion.” [Or to “give place to the devil through YOU!”].

There is SATANIC ACTIVISM, Satanic temptations, Satanic enticements, Satanic traps, like for animals, hoping you’re open to his “hook and lure”, Satanic horns that blow loud verses of fleshly pleasures with “death” as its final verse or chorus, there is Satanic invitations out to get one voluntarily rejecting “Holy Truth” because it lies “about what your flesh should enjoy”, there is Satanic deception about you, about self-interest, about ‘self-preservation and self’s indulgences, about the validity of ‘human nature’ as the center of its own universe ruled by “what my flesh tells me – I’m my own man”, with no consideration at all why God made you!

It was Martin Luther, in his writing “Table Talk,” who wrote: “The Devil has two manner of shapes or forms, wherein he disguises himself; he either appears in the shape of a serpent, to affright and kill; or else in the form of a silly sheep, to lie and deceive; these are his two court colors.”

And, consider: “Where does ‘not according to Christ’ come from?” If one reads Paul in Colossians 2:8 saying, “BEWARE lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ,” but I add, “The traditions of men in their personal philosophies and empty deceits and principles of the world were and are authored by Satan himself – from Satan himself: ‘Anything goes, but not God’s Truth, and it’s OK to “exchange the truth of God for the LIE because you can sin and not die!”

Satan will not speak the TRUTH either, and if, as he has, convinced ALL they can sin and not die, exchanging the truth of God for Satan’s lie, Paul says in Romans 1, Verse 21b, men become futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts are darkened, or Verse 22-23, men profess to be wise, but become fools, substituting the glory of the incorruptible God into images made like corruptible man, or Verse 24, God gives them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves, exchanging the truth of God for the “Lie”, or, Verse 26, receiving Satan’s lies, “God gives them up to vile passions,” or Verse 28, “God gives them over to (Satan’s version) – a debased mind, to do those things WHICH ARE NOT FITTING;

Verses 29-32, “being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving (except still ‘loving their flesh & old sin natures’!), unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

BUT, don’t ever forget, overlook, or take lightly Colossians 1:19-20, which I’ve already highlighted for you, but I sense after shocking you with Satan’s premier practices, you need to be reminded of Colossians 1:19-20!! Paul wrote, inspired by the Holy Spirit, “For it pleased the Father that in Christ Jesus all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to RECONCILE all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having MADE PEACE THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST’S CROSS.” Have you ever been to Calvary’s mountain? It was there Christ Jesus “put to death the body of the sins of your flesh,” and according to Colossians 2:13-15, (Get ready to sing the “Hallelujah Chorus”!), “And YOU, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh (or old sin nature!), He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers (including Satan’s chains binding your Christless life?), He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

And, if that is true, and it is Eternally True, “if YOU died with Christ” and “died with Him from the basic principles of the world, including Satan’s kingdom of darkness”, why, as though living in the world to the glory of God, do you give Satan inches, feet, yards, or miles on the property of your life “blood bought” by the very blood of the Lamb of God?

This is why in Colossians 3:1-4 Paul exposes some and encourages others who live by His enlightment: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died (Did YOU?), and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears (or is unveiled in us!), then you also will appear with Him,( unveiling ) in glory!” AMEN?

OR CHRIST’S RE-BORN DISCIPLES?”

Examine our vast world of population explosion on every continent and every nation of the vast world and their divided allegiances between the ‘kingdom of darkness’ and Christ’s “Kingdom of Light”! There ARE those deceived who believe in the reality of “mixed blessings”, assuming: “I’m devoted to Christ, but I enjoy and am excited by, at times, my ‘fleshly indulgences’. You see, I think God understands that one can have the best of both worlds.” Really?

It’s so illuminating and convicting and convincing about one’s choosing to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and His passions OR, though ‘believing’, to find one’s self “deceived by the powers of darkness”!

In Joshua 24:14-15 we read of Joshua challenging his people, Israel, who’d been in bondage but by the grace of God had been freed. Joshua said: “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and ‘put away the gods which your fathers served’ on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seeks evil to you to serve the Lord, CHOOSE FOR YOURSELVES THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.”

But, you are aware that there are some ‘religious zealots’ who serve Satan thinking they’re servants of Christ! In 2 Peter 2:12-22 Peter enlightens servants of Christ, if they want to be, exposing the “pretenders” who are “presumptuous, and self-willed”! He said of them: “But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed (which they will be before the judgment seat of Christ!), speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will UTTERLY PERISH IN THEIR OWN CORRUPTION, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. (Of course, some prefer the “darkness”!). They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions WHILE THEY FEAST WITH YOU (the true believers!), having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and ARE ACCURSED CHILDREN. They HAVE FORSAKEN THE RIGHT WAY AND GONE ASTRAY, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.

These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. (That’s a shocker isn’t it? Peter mentions “the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error”, becoming prime targets of Satan and the powers of darkness!). While they promise them liberty, they themselves are SLAVES OF CORRUPTION; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. (Do you understand that? Satan has deceived, blinded, equipped and trained those who, yes, were given liberty, but he makes them slaves of corruption!).

For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and ‘a sow having washed, to her wallowing in the mire’.” WOW!

Do you remember what Paul wrote to Titus? In Titus 3:3-7 lay hold of both ‘fleshly deceit’ OR “the kindness and the love of God”! Paul said: “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived,( by whom? Satan and his equipped ‘deceivers’?), serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. BUT when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, BUT ACCORDING TO HIS MERCY HE SAVED US, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Once known sinners were ‘foolish’, once they walked in disobedience, deceived by Satan, indulging in various lusts and pleasures, easily angered, easily hateful, but then, “I got saved and baptized, joined the church, enjoying the ‘fellowship’, as I do as I please spiritually or fleshly,” strongly suggesting they are under the influence of the powers of darkness!

The saddest thing I could ever imagine is a man who is born a sinner and continues under the Hell-inspired head of darkness, Satan, but “believes in Jesus” in the best of ‘head knowledge’, and not understanding Christ Jesus is his Savior, his Healer, and Emancipator from the rule and darkness of Satan! How many have you encountered who just ‘sit and watch’ as the world Christ died for becomes consigned to Hell because they “played the game of both worlds,” the kingdom of Satan and The Eternal Kingdom of the Resurrected, Reigning Christ?

The Holy Word is fully aware of how Satan sought to influence Job adversely saying to God, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing?…but You, God, stretch out Your hand and touch all that Job has, and he’ll surely curse You to Your face!” And God allowed Satan to take on all Job had but not to lay a hand on his person! Satan stripped Job, and Job’s wife wanted him to “Curse God and die! But Job responded, to her, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” And the Holy Word then says: “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

Thank God for men like Paul who stood strong against ‘disciples of Christ’ with tendencies of walking both sides of the street of faith And disobedience! I don’t think Colossians 1 is an encouragement in one’s accepting Christ that what your old life was without Him is acceptable as you walk with Him in the Spirit-realm now! Colossians 1:18-23, and Verses 26-28, IS a powerful Word about “Striving according to His (God in Christ!) working which works in me mightily” so Paul wouldn’t be a “split-personality servant” of Christ and Satan! He said: Colossians 1:18-23 first: “And He (Christ Jesus) is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Get ready!!).

And YOU, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight – IF INDEED you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached (Is that message “Christ in you the HOPE OF GLORY”? You’ll see it in a few seconds!) to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.” [Did Paul mention those who were “alienated and enemies in their minds by wicked works” – but you don’t, won’t, or can’t see Satan as the author of the “Book of revolt against God’s plan” with his desire to use slaves of darkness to build his kingdom of darkness with his darkened help?].

Now: Verses 26-28 of Colossians 1! “…the mystery which has been hidden from ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: WHICH IS CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”

And Satan’s realm, not only in Hell, in the world at large, but even in some churches or denominations that flourish on “Christian activities” but fail miserably in revealing “The Indwelling Christ”, because they don’t like: “dying daily that Christ may be exalted through us; it just doesn’t measure up to OUR ‘religious understanding’!”

I love what Dr. Charles Stanley wrote in his book entitled, “When The Enemy Strikes”. There was a section in his book, (p.200), entitled “Be Bold In Your Testimony About Jesus”. He said: “Your testimony is not based upon what you believe, what you have done, or what you are doing. Your testimony is based upon who Jesus is in your life, what He has done on your behalf, and what He desires to do in you, in your family, and through you and your family to others in your community.

When you hear a lie being told by a family member, speak the truth of God’s Word. When you hear statements of doubt about God’s love or about God’s provision, speak the truth of God’s Word.

When you hear a family member take the Lord’s name in vain, speak the truth about who Jesus is, who God is, and who the Holy Spirit is. [And I say, JFF, be sure your identify Satan’s activities as, yes, he seeks to destroy your marriage, your family, and your witness!].

Don’t allow yourself to become comfortable with “just a little sin” in your family. A little arsenic spoils a plate of food – a little cyanide poisons a large body of water. (And I,JFF, say: “Be careful when Satan seeks to poison the waters of your family’s faith by denying Biblical Truth, even truth about the devil and demons!). Sin is deadly. It pollutes and infects and destroys. (So does Satan’s lies!). Don’t develop a tolerance for any amount of it in your life or the lives of loved ones.

If you allow yourself to be comfortable with sin (Or Satanic deception!), you soon will begin to defend the presence of sin (and you’ll even find yourself defending Satanic demonology!) – to justify it and to give place to it. Deal with those issues that underlie a person’s willingness to commit sin or to act in rebellion.” [Or to “give place to the devil through YOU!”].

There is SATANIC ACTIVISM, Satanic temptations, Satanic enticements, Satanic traps, like for animals, hoping you’re open to his “hook and lure”, Satanic horns that blow loud verses of fleshly pleasures with “death” as its final verse or chorus, there is Satanic invitations out to get one voluntarily rejecting “Holy Truth” because it lies “about what your flesh should enjoy”, there is Satanic deception about you, about self-interest, about ‘self-preservation and self’s indulgences, about the validity of ‘human nature’ as the center of its own universe ruled by “what my flesh tells me – I’m my own man”, with no consideration at all why God made you!

It was Martin Luther, in his writing “Table Talk,” who wrote: “The Devil has two manner of shapes or forms, wherein he disguises himself; he either appears in the shape of a serpent, to affright and kill; or else in the form of a silly sheep, to lie and deceive; these are his two court colors.”

And, consider: “Where does ‘not according to Christ’ come from?” If one reads Paul in Colossians 2:8 saying, “BEWARE lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ,” but I add, “The traditions of men in their personal philosophies and empty deceits and principles of the world were and are authored by Satan himself – from Satan himself: ‘Anything goes, but not God’s Truth, and it’s OK to “exchange the truth of God for the LIE because you can sin and not die!”

Satan will not speak the TRUTH either, and if, as he has, convinced ALL they can sin and not die, exchanging the truth of God for Satan’s lie, Paul says in Romans 1, Verse 21b, men become futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts are darkened, or Verse 22-23, men profess to be wise, but become fools, substituting the glory of the incorruptible God into images made like corruptible man, or Verse 24, God gives them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves, exchanging the truth of God for the “Lie”, or, Verse 26, receiving Satan’s lies, “God gives them up to vile passions,” or Verse 28, “God gives them over to (Satan’s version) – a debased mind, to do those things WHICH ARE NOT FITTING;

Verses 29-32, “being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving (except still ‘loving their flesh & old sin natures’!), unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

BUT, don’t ever forget, overlook, or take lightly Colossians 1:19-20, which I’ve already highlighted for you, but I sense after shocking you with Satan’s premier practices, you need to be reminded of Colossians 1:19-20!! Paul wrote, inspired by the Holy Spirit, “For it pleased the Father that in Christ Jesus all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to RECONCILE all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having MADE PEACE THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST’S CROSS.” Have you ever been to Calvary’s mountain? It was there Christ Jesus “put to death the body of the sins of your flesh,” and according to Colossians 2:13-15, (Get ready to sing the “Hallelujah Chorus”!), “And YOU, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh (or old sin nature!), He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers (including Satan’s chains binding your Christless life?), He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

And, if that is true, and it is Eternally True, “if YOU died with Christ” and “died with Him from the basic principles of the world, including Satan’s kingdom of darkness”, why, as though living in the world to the glory of God, do you give Satan inches, feet, yards, or miles on the property of your life “blood bought” by the very blood of the Lamb of God?

This is why in Colossians 3:1-4 Paul exposes some and encourages others who live by His enlightment: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died (Did YOU?), and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears (or is unveiled in us!), then you also will appear with Him,( unveiling ) in glory!” AMEN?

By: J.Farrell Fisher, August 20-21, 2017

Don’t you find it strange AND alarming that many folks who cross your paths in our known world will “die” without one grain of understanding about why they were on Holy God’s beautiful world, no understanding of ‘the meaning of life’ or ‘the meaning of death’? Sadly, for many of humanity’s world populace there is no thought about “Why am I here?”, they just exist, tolerating whatever comes down their lane!

It was Anna Letitia Barbauld, in her writing “Ode to Life”, who wrote: “Life! We’ve been long together Through pleasant and through cloudy weather; It’s hard to part when friends are dear – Perhaps it will cost a sigh, a tear; Then steal away, give little warning, Choose your own time; Say not good-night – but in some brighter clime Bid me good morning.” I’m not sure where she was going to awaken, but be sure, she knew she would – and you should know that YOU CHOOSE through God’s graciousness and kindness and amazing love your destiny of eternal life in Hell or Heaven!

And be assured: Our lives in our known world are of a limited time frame! But, at the same time and in the same vein, you are personally involved in where you spend eternity’s destination! Horatius Bonar wrote: “Beyond the shining and the shading I shall be soon. Beyond the hoping and the dreading I shall be soon…”, but Where and With Whom rests in your own involvement of settling your eternal destiny.

Joshua gave his people and us a necessary warning and needed wisdom in Joshua 24:14-15 when he said: “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt! And if it seems evil to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

IF the anointed Word of God says, “Choose YOU this day whom you will serve,” are you, yes, at least fully aware of the ‘fleshly kingdoms of man’ OR yielded to, in, and for the God-honoring, Christ-glorifying “Kingdom of God”?

Dare I tell you that since ‘fallen man’s beginning’ Holy God has sought to alert in the inward heart of all men the reality of His desire to reconcile every fallen man to the reality of His Rule, His reigning, their Redemption, and their “co-reign” in and through His Son, Christ Jesus?

In Proverbs 1:20-33 the ‘wise man’ of Proverbs wrote: “Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses, at the openings of the gates in the city She speaks her words: “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge.

Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make known my words to you. Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke, I will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, when your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.

Then you will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, They would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies.

For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.”

“Facing death or Facing Life?” When it comes to all of fallen men’s considerations of why he/she is here in this world, it is certain that in most men it is their own interpretations about what their lives are all about from fleshly ambitions, fleshly aims, even fleshly desires, ‘eating the fruit of their own way’ without any consideration of eternal, divine, loving intention from the Throne of God, His mind, His heart, His desires for men – the source of men’s inspiration for his/her earthly existence must be: “Lord, what would You have me to do?” The astute mind behind the truly blessed man IS the very Mind, Will, Purpose, and Provision of each of us through Christ Jesus, unveiled for us in Romans 5:6-11 when Paul enlightened us, saying,

“For when we were still WITHOUT STRENGTH (or “helpless” concerning “the God-life”), in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having NOW BEEN JUSTIFIED BY HIS BLOOD, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be (“being”) saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” Have YOU received “the reconciliation”?

W.H.McDonald and William G. Fisher wrote the hymn: “I Am Coming To The Cross”. It says: “I am coming to the cross; I am poor and weak and blind; I am counting all but dross; I shall full salvation find.

Long has my heart sighed for You; Long has evil dwelt within; Jesus sweetly speaks to me, “I will cleanse you from all sin.”

Here I give myself to You – Friends and time and earthly store, Soul and body Yours to be – Wholly Yours forevermore.

In the promises I trust; Now I feel the blood applied; I am prostrate in the dust; I with Christ am crucified.

I am trusting, Lord, in You, Dear Lamb of Calvary, Humbly at Your cross I bow, Save me, Jesus, save me now.”

Has Christ Jesus saved YOU, redeemed YOU by His blood, resurrected YOU from sin and death, and called to YOU, “Son, daughter, come to Me and I’ll give you rest”? Do you KNOW that you’ve come out of the bondage of sin and death and Satan’s control, assured in your heart and mind by the Holy Spirit, and by the Holy Spirit are YOU honoring and glorifying Christ in and through your bodily Temple?

Have you “Faced your deathly state without Christ” and are you daily, yes, day by day, “Faith-ing Life in Him”? Are you NOW “being saved by His life?” Remember, Romans 5:10! “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be (“being”) saved by His life.”

Thank God for the Cross of Christ, but if that totals your believing faith, what do you do about His empty tomb and His desire for your redeemed life and body to be the place of His resurrected, abiding presence on earth through YOU? He was made sin for us that through His shed blood, death, and resurrection we might be made “the righteousness of God” in us to be unveiled to the world around us. Loving God made Jesus to be sin for us, yes, the Jesus who knew no sin, but willingly He took our sin and sin nature unto Himself, becoming ‘sin for us’, and by repentance and faith you and I are “made the righteousness of God in Him, in Christ”! Oswald Chambers rightfully stated: “It is not “Christ” FOR me unless I am determined to have Christ formed “in” me.” So true and so aligning to the very heart and mind of God Himself!

“FACING DEATH?” Spiritual death, which is what every human is birthed into, is the reality of the absence of God in the new-birthed, inner heart, because willfully God had no desire to see children birthed with no choice but servitude to the Almighty – He desired and desires the human races of individuals recognizing the empty life, yes, empty meaning, without Christ willfully residing and reigning, but, because of one’s repentance toward God and faith in Christ’s “finished” work at the Cross – one knows, “Yes, it was for ME Christ died because I was a non-possessor of Divine Presence!”

There is a “soul-awakening” sequence of verses in John 2:23-25 that should truly be ‘words of true awakening’ for one in examining his/her own heart and mind! It says: “Now when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. BUT Jesus did not commit Himself to them because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.”

There’s an interesting Verse in Ezekiel 44:25 that says, God speaking about “true priests”, “And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.” Oh, and then in Ezekiel 44:28 the Lord truly exposes the ‘false’ or true men of Faith saying, “It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I am their inheritance.” Are there ‘professing disciples’ intoxicated with a “mixed drink” of the ‘holy and the unholy’ or of ‘the unclean and the clean’? That’s “death” in, yes, disillusioned minds and hearts!

“Fallen mankind” is consumed with nonchalant and/or unconcerned indifference when it comes to a “holy relationship to your God – who needs it?” Many live with a cool indifference, even a mindless consideration of the need of Holy God’s mercy and grace!

It was J.B.Phillips, in his writing, “New Testament Christianity”, who said: “The modern intelligent mind, which has had its horizons widened in dozens of different ways, has got to be shocked afresh by the audacious fact that as a sober matter of history, GOD BECAME ONE OF US.” And becoming one of us, He came with the sacred, eternal intent of reconciling us to Himself – but that could never happen apart from “crucified with Christ” and “raised to new life” in Him and through Him!

“Fallen mankind” is fleshly oriented, ruled by the accumulation of the thoughts, ideas, remedies that never satisfies or heals the absence of God but widens the gap further unless bridged, blessed, and beautified by His amazing grace! And it’s only God’s Mind and God’s Heart that can raise “fallen mankind” out of spiritual death and separation from Him only by the shedding of the innocent blood of His Son for us on Calvary’s Cross, then raising Him up by the supernatural power and love of God, taking Him in His arms, then loosing Him to touch us with God’s amazing love and grace!

When it comes to “fallen mankind”, he/she never experiences the sacredness of a holy relationship with God apart from God’s Word, like when He said to Nicodemus, a religious ruler of the Jews, “Except you be born again you’ll never know My kingdom rule!” Of course, fallen men, rebellious to the core and beyond, have no desire to be “ruled” except by their own warped will! Tell me: Do YOU rule in your own kingdom as ‘lord unto myself’, or is it truly in your mind, heart, and walk to be ruled by Another, even King Jesus?

In Isaiah 63:14b, we read the passionate plea of one who recognized the need of Sovereign God ruling in the nation. He cried out, “So You lead Your people to make Yourself a glorious name,” saying in Verse 19, “We have become like those of old, over whom You never ruled, those who were never called by Your name.” James had a ‘perfecting word’ for all believers when he wrote in James 1:4, “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

If our goal “in Christ” IS “the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ”, is it possible that some become “sidetracked” or “detoured” away from, rather than “pressing in to His fullness”? In James 1:14 James mentions about “each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed,” followed by Verse 15, “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” [Don’t you find it alarming when ‘professing believers in Christ’ live as if He’s not around, indulging their sin natures while Christ weeps, but it doesn’t bother them because they’re ‘free’? Really?].

Follow James 1:21-25 the brother of Jesus warns us: “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the IMPLANTED WORD, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. BUT he who looks into the perfect law of liberty AND continues in it, and IS NOT A FORGETFUL HEARER BUT A DOER OF THE WORK, this one will be blessed in what he does.” Blessed is the evidence of Christ as the source of your walk of faith! Are you “facing death” or are you “FAITHING LIFE”?

“Faithing Life”? I love Moffatt’s translation of James 1:4 when he translated it, saying, “Let your endurance be a finished product, so that you may be finished and complete, with never a defect.” IF ‘Christ in you is the hope of glory’, does Christ Jesus have defects, or is it YOUR defects exposed as you try the best you can to be faithful, when your best and your worst, again, I say to you: It was crucified with Christ thousands of years ago, and you are not to lean on your “best”, but to trust His presence to be Himself THROUGH YOU! Amen?

The “Faithing Life” is not your best in ‘independent individuality’ but dependent trust in Christ Jesus being Himself in us and through us! We read in Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, LOOKING UNTO JESUS, THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

To finish the “Faith Life” are YOU looking unto Jesus, are you presently walking in His joy, are you taking His endurance of His cross daily in your walk, hating the shame, and ARE YOU SEATED WITH CHRIST, RIGHT NOW, IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES WITH CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER SIN AND DEATH, and celebrating with the angelic chorus and the armies of redeemed saints?

Psalm 66:10-12 says, “For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs. You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and water; but You brought us out to rich fulfillment.” How glorious does that sound to you?!? An old hymn entitled “Glory to His Name” has a verse that says: “Down at the cross where my Savior died, Down where for cleansing from sin I cried, There to my heart was the blood applied; Glory to His name. Glory to His name, Glory to His name; There to my heart was the blood applied; Glory to His name.” Amen?

BY: J.FARRELL FISHER, NOV.2-4, 2018

“Pathetic Decisions?” “There IS NO GOD! And even if there is, I don’t choose to walk with Him – ‘I’m OK without your God saying, “Follow Me!”’

“Pathetic Decisions?” “You may profess, confess, and follow your Savior – but for me, I follow what my fleshly instincts tell me to follow; I don’t need your God, and I don’t need your “Savior”; I’m ‘lord’ and ‘god’ and ‘ruler’ and ‘savior’ under my own self-chosen, self-governing, self-indulging administration! I don’t need to be ‘ruled’ by another, even your God!!”

“Pathetic Decisions?” “Stubborn-hearted is the way I was raised – I don’t need your God telling me to ‘follow Me’ – I’m able to discern for myself the ‘paths’ upon which I choose to walk, and your ‘Bible-path’ is not my choice.”

“Pathetic decisions?” Have you noticed the paths most unbelievers follow, like, “trusting in their mind and heart wickedness”, “warring against Biblical Truth and the compassionate, merciful, caring Savior and Lord”, “given over to fleshly pleasures with no desire to even hear of God’s Amazing Grace”, “living ‘enchanted’ by godless education, ‘bound and bruised’ intentionally by worldly minds and hearts-of diseased professors and teachers, both diseased and blinded, yes, by the powers of darkness under Satan’s management, yes, living ‘stubborn-hearted’ against the grace, mercy, and love of Holy God”?!?

“Pathetic Decisions?” “I choose my ‘idols’, my ‘flesh, sin-natured choices’, my ‘devil-inspired disillusionments’ of anything ‘religious or heavenly’, my ‘willful choice to rule my life under my self-imposed authority’– no need of ‘God-interference’ or ‘your God on the throne of my heart – I’m more than able to satisfy any spiritual urges I may have, certainly knowing your God could never match the fleshly rewards I choose for myself!’” Really?

“Pathetic Decisions?” How aware are you that far too many people of the ‘natural bent’, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:14, “do not receive the things of the Spirit of God”, seeing ‘the things of God as foolishness to them’, not understanding, desiring, or receiving the gift of God of receiving “spiritual discernment through His gracious gift of the Holy Spirit to guide you into all Truth”? As a result far too many choose to live as “mere men” void of “the mind of Christ”, yet thinking they could instruct God if He’d listen to them!

“Pathetic Decisions?” How many do you know who choose to ‘build’ their lives without, yes, the firm foundation of Christ alone, His gold, His silver, His precious Stone, but choose wood, hay, and stubble, worked up by ‘self-effort’, and when the ‘storms of life come’, they are so easily tossed around, yes, ‘blown away’ by demonic deception?

“Pathetic Decisions?” Is THAT “guided by worldly wisdom”? Examine 1 Corinthians 3:18-20! “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a ‘fool’ that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”, and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”

“Pathetic Decisions?” How moved are you in your mind, heart, and walk as a disciple of Christ Jesus when in Matthew 18:11 Jesus said, “For the Son of Man has come to save that which is lost”? “Lost”? “Alienated, separated from the God who made you, lost you, but bought you with a price (His own shed blood at Calvary), but you CHOOSE to walk independently without Him as your Lord, your Savior, and the Master of your life-walk in the here and now, and then into the eternal realm after your death – you’ll just ‘walk alone’, independent of any need of His love, grace, and mercy?”

“Pathetic Decisions?” You had rather be ‘leveraged by Satan’ than be truly liberated by Christ eternally? You’d rather be “cast down to hell, delivered into chains of darkness, reserved for judgment” (2 Peter 2:4) than to be, yes, freed from ‘demonic bondage’ and ‘fleshly indulgence’ that separates you from Holy God ‘in Christ’?

“Pathetic Decisions?” Have you ever seen, been confronted by, or fully awakened to the “sickly and deathly fruit” from, yes, “the law of sin and its state of spiritual death”, its alienation and separation from Holy God and His eternal purpose for your life in the here and now, and then, because of that stupid choice, thrust into the wide, open doors of entrance to Satan’s eternal prison?

“Pathetic Decisions?” Consider one, rejecting the wisdom of the Word of God, then CHOOSING “fleshly, sin-indulging, ‘investment-wisdom’(?) in how best to satisfy the Satanic, worldly, ‘old-man-fallen-away from God passions’, continually resulting in more and more waves of spiritual bankruptcies, majoring on ‘cheap-life-investment’ apart from yielding to Holy God’s knocking on their heart’s door, accepting life-bankruptcy as their chosen door of opportunity in satisfying ‘fleshly lust and leanings’ instead of the Indwelling, Victorious, Reigning Christ!

“Pathetic Decisions?” That’s a life-long journey of willful, flesh-honoring ‘Spirit-repression’, ‘Spirit-neglect’, ‘Spirit-absence by fleshly choice’, a life birthed in the ‘Adam-nature’ continuing to breed spiritual death and separation from the God who, yes, lovingly knocked on their hearts’ doors, choosing the pollutions of Godless lives, satisfied as ‘slaves of corruption, indecency, and self-rule’, bound stronger by the whims of self and Satanic governing, entangled in the chains of a world denying your need of God, darkened by, yes, the ‘spirit of darkness’ that desires you to remain in your present ‘state of life’ blinded to the eternal, only hope you have: surrendered to the Lordship of Christ alone!

“Pathetic Decisions?” That’s “choosing the way of a ‘dog’ that faithfully turns to his/her own vomit, or like a fat, sassy sow, wallowing in his/her mire”! I think Peter talked once about folks who are “led away, astray, with the error of the wicked”, rather than receiving, resting in, the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! (2 Peter 3:17-18).

But rather than “pathetic decisions”, why not CHOOSE NOW TO RECEIVE HOLY GOD’S DIVINE, ETERNAL, LIFE-CHANGING, EVER-FAITHFUL DIVINE, SCRIPTURAL PROMISES? In Ephesians 6:10-20 Paul instructed true disciples then and true disciples now, saying: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to STAND AGAINST the wiles of the devil.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, TO STAND.

Stand therefore, having GIRDED YOUR WAIST WITH TRUTH, having put on THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having SHOD YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; above all, TAKING THE SHIELD OF FAITH with which you WILL BE ABLE TO QUENCH ALL THE FIERY DARTS OF THE WICKED ONE. AND TAKE THE HELMET OF SALVATION, AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, which IS the Word of God; PRAYING ALWAYS with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, BEING WATCHFUL to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints – and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I MAY OPEN MY MOUTH BOLDLY TO MAKE KNOWN THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

BUT…are you witnessing, observing, sadly seeing, many believers who rather than “resting” in Christ’s Victorious Conquest, yes, over the world, your failing, fallen flesh, and Hell’s deceitful, darkening, destructive demons, are choosing rather to be blinded to sometimes, or are blinded willfully most times in true allegiance to the demons, not heaven’s angels, seeking to travel on both the ‘low road’ and the ‘high road’, compromising the fallen flesh rather than walking in Spirit-power, with greater allegiance to that old man of flesh rather than choosing consistently the “new man’s victorious armor”, yes, the inner presence of the Resurrected Christ, the witness of a Paul who said often, “I choose death to my old man daily that Christ’s Resurrection Presence might reign supremely through me as I willfully choose His promise, ‘I’ll never leave you nor forsake you!’” THAT PROMISE STILL STANDS!!!

SO….CHOOSE THE GRIP OF GRACE, NOT THE ‘BEST EFFORT’ OF A DECEIVED BELIEVER! Do YOU understand that Psalm 68:18 is a prophetic word from David about Christ Jesus’s amazing work on the Cross and through His empty tomb, raised up as your Conqueror over sin and death? “He (Christ Jesus) led captivity captive”? In his book, “Can Man Live Without God?”, (Chapter 16, p.174), Ravi Zacharias used a quote of James Stewart in Stewart’s book, “The Strong Name,” (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1972,p.55), that says:

“It is a glorious phrase – “He led captivity captive.” The very triumphs of His foes, it means, He used for their defeat. He compelled their dark achievements to subserve His ends, not theirs. They nailed Him to the tree, not knowing that by that very act they were bringing the world to His feet. They gave Him a cross, not guessing that He would make it a throne. They flung Him outside the gates to die, not knowing that in that very moment they were lifting up all the gates of the universe, to let the King come in. They thought to root out His doctrines, not understanding that they were implanting imperishably in the hearts of men the very name they intended to destroy. They thought they had God with His back to the wall, pinned and helpless and defeated; they did not know that it was God Himself who had tracked them down. He did not conquer “in spite of” the dark mystery of evil. He conquered through it.” Glory Be To the Father, and to the Son, and To the Holy Spirit – the marvelous, eternal Victors – the Three in One!!

Apart from God’s Eternal Gospel, YOU choose for yourself, the “best effort” of human flesh? Apart from the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ Jesus, YOU choose the “myth” that God accepts all who “try” without an ounce of the blessing of “trusting” the finished work of Christ at the Cross and through His empty tomb and His promise, “I’ll never leave you nor forsake you.” Also, Oswald Chambers, in his book “My Utmost For His Highest,”, (p.105), wrote: “As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and luxurious prospects will open before you, and these things are yours by right; but if you are living the life of faith you will experience your right to waive your rights, and let God choose for you. God sometimes allows you to get into a place of testing where your own welfare would be the right and proper thing to consider if you were not living a life of faith, but if you are, you will joyfully waive your right and let God choose for you. This is the discipline by means of which the natural is transformed into the spiritual by obedience to the voice of God.”

“He LED captivity captive”, and as a redeemed believer daily takes the sentence of death to self, he/she allows the “Christ in you [to BE] your hope of glory”, and he/she therefore yields to His abiding presence within them to be Himself expressing gloriously His divine nature, His eternal character, and His never-fading power over sin, over death, and, yes, over Satan’s devilish ways, unveiling the Abiding Presence in YOU of the “Conquering King” over sin, over Satan, over the ‘foreign world spirit’ of no need of God, but willfully allowing Jesus in you to supremely reign over self, over sin, over Satan, and over opposing ‘world forces’ in opposition to the Resurrected,Reigning,Savior and Lord! Amen? ARE YOU CHOOSING DAILY YOUR “VICTORY IN JESUS?”