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  It’s not a sin to be tempted... to sin. (Yea...say it again and aloud this time) Nor is it a ‘sin’ to ‘have bad thoughts’. Where do you think ‘temptation’ begins? And who exactly is the ‘tempter’? It sure isn’t God! (James 1:13). Do you not think that Jesus had ‘bad thoughts’? Of course He did...”He was tempted in all points as we are tempted, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). And here’s the really good news: “Since He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” (Heb. 2:18). That’s why we are encouraged to come with confidence to the ‘throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need’ (Heb. 4:16). And if/when you do this... something ‘supernatural’ takes place...but you better be humble and admit your need for it when you come to Him for it (James 4:6; Titus 2:11-12). Oh...something else to consider – knowing who this ‘tempter’ is, we are not advised to ‘ignore’ him, rather we are to ‘resist’ him (James...
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  Just because we’ve not been able to ‘make it work’ for us...does not give us the liberty to ‘re-write’ the Bible so it ‘fits’ and affirms our current lifestyle marked by failures and sin; or even worse...to write books and commentaries that do the same thing as they then get read more than the Bible itself. Yes, ALL of us have sinned and ‘blown it’! But the Bible does not teach we will continue... to do that after we surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Surely you’ve heard that well known definition of ‘insanity’...trying to do the same thing over and over while expecting different results’? Oh...so this walk of faith seems to have gotten a lot more serious than what you had ever really considered, you say...especially after reading these messages the past two days? That probably would explain why even back in Jesus’s day...that many ‘turned away and no longer followed Him’...because they thought the same thing. (John 6:60,66). Were you aware that Paul spoke of a great ‘fa...
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  Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:34-35) May I ask: What do you think Jesus came to ‘set us free’ from? (Rom. 6:20,22) “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness” (breaking the commandments of God) – 1 John 3:4 “He who sins is of the devil...and for this purpose the Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8) Friends - Sin is breaking God’s law; Period. I know, ‘missing the mark’ is a much softer definition for the word ‘sin’ and makes for a charming word study on how archers never hit a perfect bullseye every single time they sling an arrow, and therefore God knows you will do the same, as in ‘sin often’. There’s just one problem with that play on words- it’s deceptive. That passage I refer to regularly in Mat...
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  ["Exhort one another DAILY, while it is called 'Today,' lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." - Heb. 3:13] ....Sooo....here we go, again.... God: “Don’t eat off this one tree or you will surely die!” (Gen. 2:17) Serpent: “Did God really say you couldn’t eat off that tree? That’s not what He really meant...in fact He knows when you do eat off that tree that you will be like Him…so you surely will not die.” (Gen. 3:1-5) Jesus: “Go and sin no more!” (John 5:14; 8:11) Nearly every church pulpit across the country: “God knows it’s impossible for you to do that so don’t worry…He loves you and just wants you to try harder to do better next time.“ Friends…in the words of the late James Lovell, (Apollo 13 astronaut)…”We have a problem.” What part about ‘go and sin no more’ do we not understand? Is God that warped, bored, or pathological where He has nothing better to do than to continue issuing demands that can never be obeyed by His people…and the...
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  “Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.” – Peter (1 Peter 5:8 -AMP) If this notorious ‘villain’ we read about so much in scripture is not... a literal entity, but more of a product of ‘figurative language’...you have to ask yourself if maybe the writers of the NT were guilty of ‘overkill’ in referring to him as often as they do...and usually with somber warnings when writing about him. [Figurative language] – “is the use of words in ways that deviate from their literal definitions to add creative, emotional, or vivid meaning to writing and speech. Key types include metaphors, similes, personification, and hyperbole. It is used to enhance, emphasize, or clarify, making descriptions more engaging and imaginative.” From Strong’s Concordance: The Devil, ‘Satan’- [diabolos] – a traducer, especially Satan; (A traducer – a person who...
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  Like for many of you, my own ‘journey of faith’ and ‘coming to Jesus’, which began at the age of 20, for me...is personal and unique in its own way. While I was ‘raised in church’, or should I say I attended church weekly, I can’t say that I was ever really taught or indoctrinated to believe a particular tenet of beliefs that aligned with the particular denomination I was brought up in (Roman Catholic). It was just what I was ‘raised’ in. And while I heard various stories referred to and read from the Bible in those church services, I did not grow up reading the Bible, nor did I own one for myself. I may have glanced at one on occasion or two that we had in the house, but for the most part it was irrelevant to me. As you also might know...there is no shortage of church denominations out there to choose from, or ‘flavors’ as I like to describe them at times, and the one I landed or got ‘planted’ in during that first year of my faith walk was unique in many ways. Aren’t they al...
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  Fruit Matters....in the most serious way. You might want to look up these verses as I suspect they are underlined by now if you have been reading here for any length of time - (Matt. 3:10; 7:17-20; Luke 13:6-9) “And by their fruit...you will know them.” - Jesus "But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Gal. 5:22-23- Amp) Have you discovered yet...that we don’t (nor can we) produce this fruit on our own; rather it is the byproduct of abiding in Jesus. There is no other way...outside of abiding in Him. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; fo...
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