Time is One of God’s Most

Time is one of God’s most effective tools for teaching us to rely on Him. Charles Stanley

In Harmony With

We need patience in harmony with faith Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah

“But I Don’t Have Enough Faith”

“But I Don’t Have Enough Faith”

I often hear people say, “I am afraid I don’t know if I have enough faith.” How much faith do you need in order to be saved?

The Bible does not teach that you are justified because of your faith. Faith is not works.

Faith is nothing more than the instrument to receive our salvation. Nowhere in Scripture will you find that we are justified on account of our faith. The Scripture says that we are justified by faith or through faith. Faith is nothing but the channel by which this righteousness of God in Christ becomes ours. It is not our faith that saves us.

What saves us is the Lord Jesus Christ and His perfect saving work. It is the death of Christ upon Calvary’s Cross that saves us. It is God putting Christ’s righteousness to our account that saves. Faith is only the channel and the instrument by which His righteousness becomes mine (2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 4:24). The righteousness that saves is entirely Christ’s.  My faith is not my righteousness and I must never define or think of faith as righteousness. Faith is nothing but that which connects us to the Lord Jesus Christ and His righteousness.

The whole emphasis on salvation by faith is clearly on the object of our faith: Jesus Christ. Jesus saves! Faith does not save us. Jesus alone does that.

If we are saved at all it must be through faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).

Spurgeon once said, “It does not take a strong faith to save you, just faith. The weakness of your faith will not destroy you. A trembling hand may receive a golden gift.”

The object of our faith is the all-important thing (Acts 16:31). Our faith must be focused on Christ Jesus and His saving work on the cross.   He died as our substitute. We must trust in Christ to save us.

The righteousness that God has graciously provided becomes ours through simple faith. Ponder over Romans 3:22, 24-25, 26, 28, 30 and observe the emphasis the apostle Paul is making in these verses. Faith will not earn your salvation. If it did then faith would be works and God would owe you something. Faith is essential because only those individuals who put their trust in Christ will be saved.

The apostle Paul wrote, “The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe” (v. 22). Sinners are “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith” (vv. 24-25a). God did it this way as a demonstration “that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (v. 26). You cannot boast if you are saved by grace through faith in Christ, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law” (v. 28). Moreover, “He will justify the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcised through faith” (v. 30).

If you have never done so, will you believe on the Lord Jesus and be saved today? “Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).

SELAH! Pause – reflect- just think of that!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006

Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent

When People Fight Their Way Through

When people fight their way through their doubts to the conviction that Jesus Christ is Lord, they have attained to a certainty that those who unthinkingly accept things can never reach.
William Barclay

If You Have no Faith in The

If you have no faith in the future, then you have no power in the present. And you do not believe in Jesus or that He will guide you through it. Joseph a son of Jehovah

What God Told You In

“Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light.” Raymond Edman

Blessed Assurance Jesus is Mine

God does not intend for His saved child to live the Christian life without the blessed assurance of eternal life.

The apostle Paul had a profound conviction that nothing will be able to separate the believer from the love of Christ (Rom. 8:31-39).

Jesus spoke of double assurance or security for the believer when He said to His disciples: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand . . . and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:27-30).

We have “been born anew to a living hope” (1 Pet. 1:3-5). We are guarded by God’s power through faith for salvation. Because the new birth has taken place in our lives, we have the presence of the Holy Spirit within us (Rom. 8:23). He is called the “first fruits,” the initial promise and pledge of a greater harvest to follow. The Holy Spirit does a work in our lives producing His fruit that is characteristically different from our human nature. The Holy Spirit is evidence of assurance because “we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His own Spirit” (1 Jn. 4:13).

The ascension of Christ to heaven to be our advocate is another great assurance for the believer who has been saved by grace. Jesus “ever lives to make intercession on our behalf” (Rom. 8:34; 1 Jn. 2:2). He is our great God and “He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through Him” (Heb. 7:25). Do you have an intimate love relationship with your Savior? Are you abiding in Him and He in you? Spend time with Him every day. Learn to go into His presence throughout the day and make yourself available to Him all day long.

God’s sovereignty gives assurance to the sinner saved by grace that “all that the Father gives Me will come to Me; and him who comes to Me I will not cast out” (Jn. 6:37). Have you taken these words of Jesus to heart and believed on Him alone for your salvation? God’s eternal purpose of salvation is such that He will accept and forgive all who trust Him for salvation.

Have you taken John 3:16 seriously? “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Every person who hears His voice and follows Him will never perish or can ever be snatched out of His hand. And they can never fall out of His hands because Christ has His hands securely around the believer and God the Father has His hands around His Son! “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all” (Jn. 10:29). How big is you God? Is He as big as Jesus claimed His Father to be? A God that big can provide eternal assurance for the weakest believer who is acutely aware of his sins and weaknesses. Have you confessed your need for Him to save you and keep you saved? Have you asked Him to save you? Are you trusting in Him alone for salvation?

If you are trusting in your good works to save you, then you should be filled with anxiety regarding your salvation. How can you ever have assurance that you have done enough good works, or are good enough, or perfect enough to be saved? Such presumptive pride should cause you to tremble before the Lord God (Matt. 7:21-23; Heb. 3:12).

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (Eph. 2:8-9). Will you now put your faith and trust in the finished and all-sufficient work of Jesus Christ to save you for all eternity? When you do you can find eternal security. “He who begin a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).

SELAH! Pause – reflect- just think of that!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006 Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent.

That is the Best Medicine

 I will lie down and sleep in peace. O Lord, You alone keep me safe. Psalms 4: 8 The Holy Bible The New Life Version

No matter what the stressful situation every time I take it to Poppa, He blesses me with assurance, comfort and peace. That is the best medicine to take. You do not need to see a psychiatrist or start popping poison called pharmaceutical pills which only get you addicted and breaks down your body so you have to take more poison. Yeah the pharma shareholders like it but your body sure does not.

Now of course the second part of the equation is that we must have faith and obey what Poppa instructs us to do.

So we will say you have gallstones and Poppa instructs you to cut back on your coffee.

Your reply is up yours.

Then you cry because you have gallstone.

Duh?

This morning, I prayed because my cat ( my comforter which is needed because of the challenge of being a live in care giver which is the most stressful thing I have ever done ) due to concerns he was still having elliptic seizure even though he has started taking medication. Because I love him there was a concern of putting him down because I do not want him to suffer.

I left the choice in Poppas loving hands and trusted Him while having rivers of tears flowing down my cheeks.

When I got on the internet later in the day, He guided me to a site that explained the medication much more in depth and that it would take a while for the medication to take effect. I greatly praised Him as now my heart beats with joy again.

The reason worriers die sooner than non-worriers is because we have peace of mind that can only come from trusting Jehovah in every aspect of our lives. Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah

Prayer: Thank you Jehovah Jireth (Genesis 22:14 The LORD Shall Provide ) for blessing me with the medicine to help my buddy and the knowledge that everything will be alright and it will just take a while. I praise You in the name of He who raised Lazarus when the time was right, Jesus Christ, Amen

Seleh- stop and think about it.

This photo and article @ Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah 2023

Biblical Authority and Jesus

The apostle Paul accepted the fact that the Word of God was inspired, incorruptible, indestructible and indispensable.

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Since “all Scripture is inspired by God,” then no scripture is uninspired.

It is God-breathed, breathed into by God, or inspired.

The Jewish rabbis taught that the Spirit of God rested on and in the prophets and spoke through them so that their words did not come from themselves, but from the mouth of God. These men spoke and wrote in the Holy Spirit. The New Testament church was in full agreement with this view of inspiration.

Literally, the apostle Paul says, “All Scripture, or every Scripture, is God-breathed.” It is God inspired. The Bible is the authoritative Word of God because it is divinely authorized. God inspired it. The whole Old Testament is divinely inspired. Extensions of the same claim to the New Testament is not expressly stated, however it is more than merely implied. The New Testament is no less authoritative than the Old Testament. The apostles expressly declared their inspired proclamation to be the Word of God (1 Cor. 4:1; 2 Cor. 5:20; 1 Thess. 2:13).

When you accept the plenary, or full, inspiration of the Scripture God’s superintendence of the whole implies inerrancy of the content.

The inerrancy of the Scriptures is consistent with what the Bible says about itself. The whole Bible is “the seat of authority.” The historical evangelical position is the divine inspiration, complete trustworthiness, and full authority of the Bible. Scripture is authoritative and fully trustworthy because it is inspired by God.

The divine authority of the Scriptures rests eventually and solely on it’s being God-breathed. The Scriptures are God-breathed in all its parts.

We believe in biblical inerrancy and infallibility. With confidence we confess faith in the divine origin of the Bible. It is completely truthful and trustworthy.

The New Testament is no less authoritative because it is the fulfillment of the Old. Jesus, the apostles, the early church, all clearly agreed that the Old Testament was absolutely trustworthy. They are authoritative because they are God’s fully inspired Word. The authority of the Bible is divine authority. God is the author.

The doctrine of plenary, verbal inspiration stresses that the Holy Spirit acted in relationship with the biblical writers so as to render them infallible revealers of God’s truth. We can therefore have complete confidence in God’s infallible Word. The New English Bible says, “It was not through any human whim that men prophesied of old; men they were, but, impelled by the Holy Spirit they spoke the words of God.”

Why the importance of the doctrine of inerrancy in a day when most people detest moral authority? This great doctrine of Christianity avoids instability in expounding authoritative doctrine and morals.

In our day it is in vogue to who claim to honor the authority of Jesus Christ rather than the authority of Scripture. This is to contradict Jesus’ teaching, since Jesus held a high view of Scripture. It is illogical to pick and choose from the teaching of Jesus during His earthly ministry only those elements that serve one’s own presuppositions. To do so would be to reject the full trustworthiness of Scriptures. How would you know the Jesus you worship is the same as the one the Scriptures declares to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world? Without His resurrection we are still in our sins.

Remove the doctrine of full divine inspiration and inerrancy of the Scriptures in whole and in part and you effectively remove any reason why a person’s life ought to be transformed by Jesus Christ. You can then live any life-style you so desire. The great tragedy in our day in that is exactly what many in the church are doing. You cannot tell the difference between the Christian and non-Christian in today’s society.

SELAH! Pause – reflect- just think of that!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006 Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent.

It Empties Today of Its Strength.

Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength—carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.
Corrie ten Boom