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  Okay…confession time. Who reading here today would be willing to admit of doing what I have been guilty of doing in the past, when it comes to reading Christian books, devotionals, study guides, etc., written by your favorite author(s)? You find yourself totally engaged reading every page and every chapter, marking those profound statements made by the author. You might even share your favorite quote by that author on social media because it made such an impression on you. But as you are reading through that book, you’ll come across numerous paragraphs that are actually portions of scripture straight out of our Bible, and usually printed in italics to make it stand out; and yet we tend to do a funny thing when we come across those passages. We skim over them so we can hurry and get back to what our favorite author…is saying. [Me, sheepishly raising my hand as I admit- “yep, I’ve done that before.”] We ‘believers’ have a funny love/hate relationship with God’s word, if we’re hon...
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  God said to Adam: “In the day that you eat off that tree, you will surely die.” (Gen. 2:17) The serpent said (to both Adam and Eve): “You can eat off that tree and you will surely NOT die.” (Gen. 3:4) So…which gospel did they believe? We were told long ago that “the time would come when people will no longer endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires…because they have itching ears…they will gather around for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables/myths.” (2 Tim. 4:3-4)  I hope that you gave some serious thought to the message I shared here yesterday, pertaining to how we can respond to God’s word…which is dependent on the condition of our own hearts. I think one of the more heart-revealing places we can come to is when we recognize it’s possible that we can actually love various teachings derived from God’s word… more than we love God Himself. Hence, the ‘test’ I put forth here occasionally when I...
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  I’m not apologizing for what can be perceived as a ‘somber tone’ to my messages here of late, but I would like to at least offer up a simple explanation as to what is behind them. While not directly affected by the news of spreading wildfires (in southern CA), it’s no secret that they occur out here on a regular basis, usually as a result of strong winds and dry conditions. Can you imagine being on the firefighting crews that go into endangered neighborhoods and are helping with the ordered evacuations, only to be told by local residents to mind your own business as they are tired of hearing so much ‘bad news’? “Can’t you find something that is pleasant and comforting to tell us about? Why all the doom and gloom about spreading flames?” Yeah…God’s people had similar things to say when Isaiah came preaching to them as well. (Isaiah 30:8-15) Did you know in one place, God refers to His people as being ‘stupid/foolish’ (Jer. 4:22), and that they didn’t even ‘know or recognize the j...
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  I can only wonder…how many times over the ages has God just looked down at us from heaven, shaking His head in dismay …and asked such questions as these: “Why don’t My people take Me seriously? Why don’t they believe My word? Why do they always go astray in their hearts and refuse to obey Me?” We have it on record in some of the oldest written documents where God expressed His heart’s desire when He declared: “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever.” (Deut. 5:29). So when I suggest that God would ask why we don’t take Him ‘seriously’…may I remind you again, where He included in the second commandment that He is ‘jealous’ for our hearts… and is known to ‘visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations…’ (Deut. 5:9). But He was also quick to include how He is willing and ready to “show mercy to thousands, to those who...
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  I know…you probably had some questions yesterday after reading my message about ‘inheriting’ unwanted or undesirable ‘things’ from your ancestors. I get it; especially when it comes to this idea of ‘generational curses’ that can be ‘passed down’, as Deut. 5:9 suggest… (found in Commandment #2). You probably thought that after you turned to Jesus and confessed your sins, followed up by water baptism for the remission of sins…that your slate was now clean and your sins were ‘as white as snow’. Guess what? You were cleansed, and all your past sins were forgiven, just as the Bible teaches us. But let us also remember that as you begin this new walk of repentance, surrendering your heart/will to Jesus to be led by His Spirit for the ongoing work of ‘sanctification…there is still some ‘work’ to be done in us all (Rom. 8:29). And also…we’re not here trying to debate whether one is ‘saved’ or not at this time. IF…you are abiding in Christ, you are saved, you are being saved, and you...
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  Let’s make a deal up front here, that if you read anything in this lesson today that seems unclear, or you are just ‘not seeing it’ at first, do us both a favor- just set it aside, maybe place it on a ‘mental shelf’ somewhere, and give it some time. If there is any truth here to grasp and be received, I’m totally confident that God is more than able and willing to ‘confirm’ His word to you. (Mark 16:2; 2 Tim. 2:7). One nice thing about ‘growing in knowledge’ when it comes to God’s truths, is we don’t have to force or ‘make it happen’. I only suggest this from experience; also because this topic is still one I’m learning more about, and I don’t want to be guilty of muddying the waters and confusing anyone, since we are going to be talking about ‘generational curses’. One of the things we learn about God early on after He gives the 10 Commandments to His people, is that He is a ‘jealous God’, as in jealous for our hearts. Hence, the added clause found in the 2nd commandment: “For ...
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  I had it on my mind the other day to wade into a topic here that I think many of us would be interested in learning more about, and it has to do with ‘generational curses’ that can be passed down through family lines. I always feel a tad hesitant to touch on this topic, because I feel like I still have much to learn; and if I’m going to teach on it, I better have a firm, scriptural understanding as to what we are even talking about, before I attempt to explain it to anyone else. But before I address this idea that the ‘sins of the forefathers can be passed down to the 3rd and 4th generation of those who hate God’ (Deut. 5:9-10), I was feeling compelled to first address this idea of what it means to be ‘sanctified’, or what we refer to as: ‘sanctification’. Then, as I was all set to tackle that subject, I was ‘moved upon’ yesterday to first address the topic of ‘slave mentality’, which is what yesterday’s message focused on; I hope you were able to read it and are caught up her...
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