Thy Forehead

                             ©2017 J.S.N.

Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.  Ezekiel 3:8

Deceptions ...

One of the greatest deceptions the enemy achieves through our sin is he fogs our ability to see the many layers of loss and pain we bring to our own life because of our own sin. We, in effect, trade heeding the voice of True Love and the atmosphere of heaven for shifting shadows and scratching addictions that leave us feeling empty and alone. Unless we see the negative effects of our own sin and all the good things we are sacrificing because of it, we will continue to stumble. 

When we realize it is our own sin and our own choices that sacrifice our ‘promised lands’ and ‘our destinies’, this should create in us a healthy holy fear that keeps us close to the True Shepherd and away from the sickness of sin. Sin is sickness of the soul. Sin is the disconnection from sound wisdom and the LIFE of God. 

To choose sin is to drink poison for your soul and your spirit. To lead a lifestyle of choosing sin and rejecting True Love’s voice leads to death and eternal separation from True LIFE. To come clean is to BECOME CLEAN. For He freely wants to wash and restore His love to us. To have Jesus is to have everything. To not have Jesus is to lose even that which we think we have. True Love does not come to make us comfortable in ‘our beliefs’. He comes to deliver us from ‘our lies’. 

[Troi Nelson Cockayne]

Matthew 24:24 ... For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 ... A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Isaiah 1:18 ... Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. ❤

The Gospel Hospital!

When a man is absorbed by a new master-passion, what a different man he becomes. The passion for wealth will work marvels! We have known idle people become very diligent, and profuse voluptuaries become even self-denying to their flesh in their ambition to acquire riches. In the same way, whenever God really saves a person, He gives that person a new master-passion the passion of gratitude to Christ, along with love to the God who saved him. 

These always become a new master-principle which rules the entire man. From the moment that a man sincerely believes in Jesus, his nature becomes different from what it was before. He receives a new heart. Another influence takes possession of him, and another love engrosses him. He who once loved sin now loves God and lives for Him. By the saving grace of God, this supernatural change is possible even to the most vile and degraded people. 

If a man has committed every crime in the whole catalog of villainy, and his heart has become as hard as the nether millstone, and his disposition altogether vile and detestable, and groveling, and sensual, and devilish the Spirit can turn that man in a single moment, into a lover of that which is true, and right, and just! 

Yes, the Spirit can passionately inflame him with the desire to be perfectly holy! We do not teach that Christ forgives men and then lets them continue to live in the hog pens as before! We assert that the moment He gives the pardon of sin, He gives the new nature as well. The gospel hospital is not merely a place where lepers are harbored, but where lepers are healed! 

[Charles H. Spurgeon] 

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Ezekiel 36:26–27 ... A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.  And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ...  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. ❤

Arise and Speak!!

Love knows no bounds. With Him all things are possible. He opens doors according to His will. Doors swing wide open in His perfect timing. Your obedience to that point brings you to its opening. Exchange your natural vision for eyes of faith to see its path. Speak to your mountains to be removed. Speak to the dry bones of your visions, that they be wrapped in His life. They will all rise up a vast army by His Spirit. ARISE AND SPEAK! 

[Troi Nelson Cockayne]

Matthew 19:26 ... But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Ezekiel 37:4 .... Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

Romans 4:17 ... (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. ❤

Your Enemy!

Unconverted sinner! You are not only against God, but God Himself is against you! As there is no friend like Him so there is no enemy like Him. As much as heaven is above the earth, omnipotence above impotence so much more terrible is it to fall into the hands of the living God, than into the paws of bears and lions yes, furies or devils! 

God Himself will be your tormentor! Who or what shall deliver you out of His hands? Sinner, I think this would go like a dagger to your heart to know that God Himself is your enemy! 

Oh, where will you go? Where will you shelter yourself? The infinite God is engaged against you! He hates all workers of iniquity. Man, does not your heart tremble to think of your being an object of God's hatred? "As surely as I live, when I sharpen My flashing sword and begin to carry out justice, I will bring vengeance on My enemies and repay those who hate Me!" (Deuteronomy 32:40-41)  

The power of God is mounted like a mighty cannon against you! Sinner, the power of God's anger is against you and power and anger together make fearful work. There is no escaping His hands no breaking loose from His prison. Submit to mercy. Let not dust and stubble battle against the Almighty. 

[Joseph Alleine] 

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Ezekiel 5:8 ... Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.

Psalm 50:22 ... Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. ❤

God Shoots Many Kinds of Arrows!

We pray here, that we may have grace to submit to God's will patiently, in whatever He inflicts. Patient submission to God's will, is a gracious frame of soul, whereby a Christian is content to be at God's disposal and acquiesces in His wisdom. "It is the Lord's will, let Him do what He thinks best!" (1 Samuel 3:18)  

Patient submission to the will of God, lies in seeing His hand in the affliction. "Affliction does not spring from the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the earth!" (Job 5:6) Affliction does not come by chance! Job eyed God in all that befell him. "The Lord gave me everything I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!" (Job 1:21) Job looks beyond second causes, he sees God in the affliction! "The Lord has taken it away." 

There can be no submission to God's will, until there is an acknowledging of God's hand in the affliction. Patient submission to God's will, lies in justifying God. God is holy and just, not only when He punishes the wicked, but when He afflicts the righteous. "Now we are being punished because of our wickedness and our great guilt. But we have actually been punished far less than we deserve." (Ezra 9:13)  

While we live here in this valley of tears, patient submission to God's will is much needed. The Lord sometimes lays heavy afflictions upon us. "Your arrows have struck deep, and Your blows are crushing me!" (Psalm 38:2) God sometimes lays many afflictions upon us. "He multiplies my wounds." (Job 9:17) God shoots many kinds of arrows! 

God sometimes afflicts with POVERTY, which is a great affliction. To have an estate reduced almost to nothing, is hard to flesh and blood. "The Almighty has made life very bitter for me. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty." (Ruth 1:20-21)  

God sometimes afflicts with REPROACH. Dirt may be cast upon a pearl. Just so, those names may be blotted, which are written in the Book of Life. Piety shields from Hell, but not from slander. God sometimes afflicts with the DEATH of loved ones. "Son of man, I am going to take away your dearest treasure. Suddenly she will die!" (Ezekiel 24:16)  

God sometimes afflicts with INFIRMITY of body. Sickness takes away the comfort of life. Sometimes God lets the infirmity continue long. Some diseases are chronic and linger and hang about the body for many years. The Lord is pleased to exercise many of His precious ones with chronic infirmities. God tries His people with various afflictions so that they have need of patient submission to His will. Murmuring is not consistent with submission to God's will. Murmuring is the height of impatience; it is a kind of mutiny in the soul against God. "They began to murmur against God!" (Numbers 21:5)  

When water is hot, then the scum boils up! When the heart is heated with anger against God, then murmuring boils up! Murmuring springs from pride! Men think they have deserved better at God's hand; and, when they begin to swell with pride, they spit poison! 

[Thomas Watson] 

Hebrews 12:5-6 ... And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. ❤

Your Enemy!!

Unconverted sinner! You are not only against God but God Himself is against you! As there is no friend like Him so there is no enemy like Him. As much as heaven is above the earth, omnipotence above impotence so much more terrible is it to fall into the hands of the living God, than into the paws of bears and lions yes, furies or devils!  God Himself will be your tormentor! Who or what shall deliver you out of His hands? 

Sinner, I think this would go like a dagger to your heart to know that God Himself is your enemy!  Oh, where will you go? Where will you shelter yourself? The infinite God is engaged against you! He hates all workers of iniquity. Man, does not your heart tremble to think of your being an object of God's hatred? "As surely as I live, when I sharpen My flashing sword and begin to carry out justice, I will bring vengeance on My enemies and repay those who hate Me!" (Deuteronomy 32:40-41) 

The power of God is mounted like a mighty cannon against you! Sinner, the power of God's anger is against you and power and anger together make fearful work. There is no escaping His hands no breaking loose from His prison. Submit to mercy. Let not dust and stubble battle against the Almighty.

[Joseph Alleine] 

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Ezekiel 5:8 ... Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.

Isaiah 45:9 ... Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

Psalm 50:22 ... Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. ❤

The Church Compared to the Moon

Nothing on earth is so precious to the Infinite Mind as his Church. Her beauty, her glory, etc., are exhibited in the sacred oracles, by the most striking figures, among which is that of the text. The moon is a secondary planet which attends on the earth, to give light by night. Its beauty and splendor have ever been admired; and its communications of light have ever been appreciated. Hence the comparison in the text. The state of the Church is indicated by the text, as all expositors agree. The Church may be compared to the moon in the following respects: 

 I. The moon is a beautiful and glorious object and inspires the beholders of it with admiration. So, the Church of Christ even in this world is a beautiful and glorious object. The operations of Divine grace have made her fair. She is fair when compared with the wicked fair in the estimation of angels, who behold her with admiration and rapture, (Ephesians 3:10) fair in the estimation of Christ, who thus addresses her, "You are all fair, my love, there is no spot in you." (Song of Solomon 4:7) "He has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels!" (Isaiah 61:10) This was not formerly the case; for each member of it was vile and wicked. There was no light, no moral beauty in the soul. But saints are redeemed from spiritual bondage, they are saved from guilt and condemnation they are regenerated by the Spirit of God they have now, in some good degree, the fruits of the Spirit felt in their hearts, and exemplified in their conduct. In their associated capacity, believers are united in the bonds of holy love they strive together for the faith of the Gospel they are the salt of the earth, the lights of the world. What a beautiful object is the Church of God when its members reflect the glory of him who has created them to "good works"! 

II. The moon receives her light from the sun. So, the Church receives all her light and glory from Christ, the Sun of Righteousness. The sun gives light but receives none; the moon both receives light and gives light. So, Christ, as God, has light in himself; but as Mediator, he has his light from the Father, to communicate it to his Church, that the Church may give light to the world. The Church has received from him the light of Divine Revelation the development and accomplishment of the plan of salvation all her moral and spiritual beauty adoption into the family of Heaven, and all those glorious privileges flowing from fellowship with himself also a title to Heaven, a fitness for it, and the hope that anticipates it. "And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD!" (Ezekiel 16:14)    

III. The moon gives light to the world during the night. So it is by the Church that God sends forth his light and his truth for the benefit of the nations of the earth that sit in darkness and have no light. And as the moon shall emit its light while time shall last so the Church of Christ will, instrumentally, diffuse the light of the Gospel, until the kingdoms of this world, etc. Consider the darkness that exists in the world of heathenism, of superstition, of Popery, etc. Who has a heart to feel, and a hand to help? None but the Church of God. The "gross darkness" which covers the people, God has determined to disperse and that by the instrumentality of his Church; by her pastors, her evangelists, her missionaries, and by all the means with which Heaven has blessed her. All the predictions referring to the latter-day glory, are to be fulfilled by the instrumentality of God's Church. "Go into all the world and preach the gospel." (Mark 16:15) 

IV. The moon, though very fair and bright yet has its spots. So, the Church, though pure and holy, has sometimes her spots of sin. No saint is without blemishes. "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves." (1 John 1:8) "Pray, therefore, lest you enter into temptation." 

V. The moon has its various aspects. Sometimes in the full, sometimes in the wane. Now it shines gloriously then that glory greatly decreases. Yet still it is the same moon, and is not then destitute of the sunbeams, though it may appear so to our sight. "The Church," says an old divine, "is like the moon, which sometimes shines wholly, being enlightened with the sunbeams, and sometimes deprived of a great part of its light." Now the Church shines most gloriously and then is so obscured that she hardly appears at all. The Church has its eclipses, like the moon, and is in darkness for a time. Sometimes the Church has been eclipsed, or obscured, by persecution, and driven by it into the wilderness. (Revelation 12:6) Ecclesiastical history furnishes much information on this subject. But the Church, like the moon, has always emerged from its obscurity, to shine with its usual splendor, and to diffuse in the world the light of truth and vital religion. Sometimes afflictions cloud the Church and temptations and sin and other trials; for believers are often "in heaviness through manifold temptations." 

Lastly. The moon is not so bright as the sun; for it derives its light from it; but the period will come when God's Church shall be "Clear as the Sun" yes, purer and brighter. The Church here, in its best state, is but fair as the moon, which shines with a borrowed light, and is subject to changes, and has its spots. When it is perfected in the kingdom of glory, it will be as clear as the sun the Church shall be clothed with the Sun, with Christ the Sun of Righteousness they shall be as the Sun when he goes forth in his might. (Judges 5:31) They shall shine in inexpressible glory; and that which is perfect shall then come, and there shall be no sin, no darkness, no spots! "The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted." (Isaiah 30:26)

[William Nicholson]

Song of Solomon 6:10 ... Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?  ❤

🛑 A Christian Who Warns ...

A Christian who warns is so misunderstood.

A Christian who tells hard truths is often isolated and doesn’t have folks giving them accolades or telling them they are amazing people. They are oftentimes met with silence from the world and even fellow Christians. Although they are strong in their faith and don’t require those things because they are doing their best to walk in obedience and faithfulness to God, it is a hard journey. 

What people don’t see is that many of those “hard truths” are things that God has dealt with them in their own lives about that they have also faced painful truths that they have had to surrender to. That they are preaching to themselves many times. What people don’t see is the burden of souls that weighs heavily on their hearts and minds, and the tears that are wept for those they see in the cross hairs of the devil’s traps. They don’t see how that Christian mourns the state of the Church, which they dearly love. 

How every day the thought of souls going to an eternal hell fills them with pain and dread. Sleepless nights, waking many times with the urge to pray sometimes over someone specific, sometimes over all of it in general. What most people see as hateful, judging words of intolerance is actually a soldier of the cross who is seeing the thick dark blanket of evil being drawn over their beloved family, their beloved church, their beloved country, and the whole world without so much as an objection from most. 

It’s like seeing those you love on a railroad track with a train racing down the track, blaring its horn towards them, and you are the only one who seems to see it. You are desperately waving your arms, screaming, even trying to physically push them off the track with tears rolling down your face, and all they do is ignore you, scoff at you. When you say you want to love people like Christ loves them, this is what that love looks like. 

For the Christian who warns and who tells hard truths, keep yelling, keep weeping over them, keep waving your arms. Continue to let the Holy Spirit lead and guide you. Don’t give up no matter how hard it gets! If just one steps out of the way of that oncoming train, it will all be worth it.

[Author Unknown]

Ezekial 33:2-3 ... Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;

Isaiah 21:6 ... For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.

1 Thessalonians 5:14 ...  Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.

Colossians 1:28 ... Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: 🛑

Be Changed!!

 You have never gone too fat that God can't redeem you. Retore you. Forgive you.

The Lord is a God of second chances.

1 John 1:9 ... If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Ezekiel 36:26 ...  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Colossians 1:14 ...  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: ❤

"One Day"

One day Paul was killing Christians, the next day he was a Christian. 

One day Peter was a fisherman, the next day he was a fisher of men. 

Don’t judge someone based on that one day. 

If God can create the whole world in six days,

He can surely create a new heart in one. 

[message from the Internet]

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Ezekiel 36:26 ... A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Psalm 51:10 ... Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ... Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. ❤

Bones.

To thrive in this world, you need three bones. 

 A wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone!

Ezekiel 37:3-7 ... And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

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Lord, Smite This Sin!

Do we love the holiness of the Word? The Word is preached to beat down sin, and advance holiness. Do we love it for its spirituality and purity? Many love the Preached Word only for its eloquence and notion. They come to a sermon as to a performance (Ezekiel 33:31,32) or as to a garden to pick flowers but not to have their lusts subdued or their hearts purified.  These are like a foolish woman who paints her face but neglects her health! 

Do we love the convictions of the Word? Do we love the Word when it comes home to our conscience and shoots its arrows of reproof at our sins? It is the minister's duty sometimes to reprove. He who can speak smooth words in the pulpit but does not know how to reprove, is like a sword with a fine handle, but without an edge! "Rebuke them sharply!" (Titus 2:15) Dip the nail in oil reprove in love but strike the nail home! 

Now Christian, when the Word touches on your sin and says, "You are the man!" do you love the reproof? Can you bless God that "the sword of the Spirit" has divided between you and your lusts? This is indeed a sign of grace and shows that you are a lover of the Word. A corrupt heart loves the comforts of the Word but not the reproofs: "You hate the one who reproves and despise him who tells the truth!" (Amos 5:10). "Their eyes flash with fire!" Like venomous creatures that at the least touch, spit poison! "When they heard these things, they were enraged in their hearts and gnashed their teeth at him!" (Acts 7:54) 

When Stephen touched their sins, they were furious and could not endure it. How shall we know that we love the reproofs of the Word? When we desire to sit under a heart-searching ministry. Who cares for medicines that will not work? A godly man does not choose to sit under a ministry that will not work upon his conscience. When we pray that the Word may meet with our sins. If there is any traitorous lust in our heart, we would have it found out and executed! We do not want sin covered but cured! 

When we can open our heart to the sword of the Word and say, "Lord, smite this sin!" When we are thankful for a reproof. "Let a righteous man strike me it is a kindness; let him rebuke me it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it." (Psalm 141:5) David was glad for a reproof. 

Suppose a man were in the mouth of a lion, and another should shoot the lion and save the man would he not be thankful? Just so, when we are in the mouth of sin, as of a lion, and the minister by a reproof shoots this sin to death shall we not be thankful? A gracious soul rejoices, when the sharp lance of the Word has pierced his abscess of sin! He wears a reproof like a jewel on his ear: "Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man's rebuke to a listening ear." (Proverbs 25:12) 

To conclude, it is convicting preaching which must do the soul good. As a nipping frost prepares for the sweet flowers of spring so a nipping reproof prepares the soul for comfort!

[Thomas Watson]

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Psalm 119:140 ...Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it. ❤

Do Not Let Them Become Your Idols!

Thank God for the comforts and blessings of this life, but do not let them become your idols! 

Whatever a man depends upon, whatever rules his mind, whatever governs his affections, whatever is the chief object of his delight is his god. If you worship a god of gold, you will perish as much as if you worshiped a god of mud! If you love anything better than God, you are idolaters! If there is anything you would not give up for God, it is your idol. If there is anything that you seek with greater fervor than you seek the glory of God, that is your idol. That for which you live, is your idol. 

Man is such an idolater that, if he cannot idolize anything else, he will idolize himself, and set himself up, and bow down and worship himself! Conversion means a turning from every idol. If we are, indeed, Christians, then we have broken a great many idols. We have still some more to break, and we must keep the hammer going until they are all broken! If we had no idols in children, friends, wealth, ourselves we would not need half the trials we have. Foolish idols make rods for foolish backs! 

If God sees us making idols of anything, He will either break our idols, or break us. Cast out the idols from your hearts. Let them all go. Love no one else and nothing else, as you love Him. 

[Charles H. Spurgeon] 

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Ezekiel 20:16 ..  Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.

Ezekiel 14:3 ... Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?

1 John 5:21 ... Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. ❤

Children of Light

You are His Child. You will find pasture and a peaceful place. He will drive out your enemies before your very eyes. He brings life where there was death. Hope where there was hopelessness. Is anything too difficult for Him? Trust in Him. Emotions are fickle and not to be trusted. He most certainly knows how to humble the proud. 

Do not be dismayed or shaken when it seems that evil prospers. When He arises, His enemies are scattered. When light breaks forth darkness must flee. You are Children of Light. To walk this path, stay in agreement with heaven and do not turn to the right or to the left. We walk by faith not by sight. Do not trust what you see or be robbed by circumstance. 

Children of Light walk-through darkness and the wreckage of sin and death. Speak to these bones to LIVE! Call HEALING where there is sickness. Call LIGHT where there is darkness and SPEAK LIFE where there is death. 

Heaven is our reality. We do not look at the things that are seen, but the things that are unseen. Speak His Will. Faith is heaven’s currency, and He has given you full measure. With Him you have more than enough. Take back what has been stolen. You are His arms, His legs, His mouth. Speak, walk, touch. You have the mind of Christ. 

You have walked in the natural. He is calling you to walk in the Supernatural. The Kingdom of darkness cannot stand against His body when it is awake. And so, I say to you, “AWAKE, AWAKE!” Arise! His blood flows to His body to bring life! Believe Me when I tell you, you speak life or death. Speak LIFE! Ask according to His Will and it shall be done. The armies of heaven await your words.

 [Troi Nelson Cockayne]

Ezekiel 37:4 ... Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

Ephesians 5:8 ...  For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: ❤

Made New.

I grew up without a father and had a warped view of men from bad examples of men I've seen in my life. I carried rejection and pain with me from that. In school I was bullied and called gay all the time because I was more feminine than other boys. I didn't even know what gay was. Then I became angry and hung with the wrong crowd drinking, smoking weed, etc. At a party a male friend of mine sexually took advantage of me and this opened a door of confusion in my life. I began to experiment with makeup, cross dressing/drag as a way to cover myself and hide behind an alter ego.

Then, I started getting involved in new age witchcraft. Doing spells, crystal work, kundalini yoga, spirit guides, etc. I was living these ways for years. A little over a year ago I started feeling empty and these things didn't fill the void in me. I cried out to God and said if this isn't what you want for my life give me a sign. The next day I got a dream from God of the Bible verse Ezekiel 6:4 telling me to stop doing witchcraft. But I still had one foot out and the other in trying to figure out the truth.

Some time passed and I came across a video of a testimony called From New Age to Jesus. This video convicted me, and I put all of my new age/witchcraft stuff in a trash bag and threw it in the dumpster. I began to experience demonic attacks after this. These beings I thought my spirit guides were actually demons. I was experiencing sleep paralysis, demonic dreams, attacks, etc. I looked into why these things were happening to me and found out that this is a very real thing. Demons are real.

Around this time, I also received a dream of Jesus telling me to be set apart and follow him. Time goes on and I came across an online map where I connected with a believer in my area. She gave me the gospel and talked to me about being born again. I knew this is what God was calling me to. I set up a day on January 3rd to meet up with people in my town I had never met before to get baptized, set free of demons, and filled with the Holy Spirit.

I received freedom and a new life. It took some time for me to find good people to fellowship with and grow with. But I finally did find some good brothers and sisters, but I still felt like God was calling me for more. I was having dreams of traveling with a couple that were missionaries, but they were out of country and weren't planning on coming back. Little did I know when I was having these dreams that God was telling them to come back to America. When they came back, they visited Chariton and I told them about these dreams, and they shared with me God was putting on their heart for me to travel with them. God began to confirm again and again this was what he wanted. So, I put in a 2 weeks' notice at my job and left Chariton and am traveling wherever God's calls, learning and growing each day, and trusting him in everything.

Jesus can change your life if you let him. I'm a completely different person than I used to be. I tried just believing in God or saying a prayer to be "saved", but there wasn't true freedom in my life until I obeyed the gospel and stepped into the watery grave where I left my old life behind.

You can't enter the Kingdom of God without being made a new creation. There has to be a death and rebirth spiritually. And this is through water baptism and being filled with the Holy spirit. Repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38) There will be signs that follow. Mark 16:17-18 "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." This is for everyone.

God wants us all to walk in the full inheritance he gives us when we become children of God. Yes, Jesus paid it all when he died, but we still have to make a choice and obey the gospel to become a part of God's Kingdom and walk it out every day.

[Skylar Stroud]

Acts 26:18 ... To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

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Nothing Escapes His Notice!

What a wondrous Being is the God of Scripture! God is omniscient. He knows everything: everything possible, everything actual, all events, all creatures, of the past, the present, and the future. He is perfectly acquainted with every detail in the life of every being in Heaven, in earth, and in Hell. 

Nothing escapes His notice, nothing can be hidden from Him, nothing is forgotten by Him. His knowledge is perfect. He never errs. He never changes. He never overlooks anything. God not only knows whatever has happened in the past in every part of His vast domains; and He is not only thoroughly acquainted with everything that is now transpiring throughout the entire universe, but He is also perfectly cognizant of every event, from the least to the greatest, that will ever happen in the ages to come! 

God's knowledge of the future is as complete as is His knowledge of the past and the present; and that, because the future depends entirely upon Himself. God has Himself designed whatever shall yet be and what He has designed, must be effectuated. God's knowledge does not arise from things because they are or will be but because He has ordained them to be! Yes, such is the God with whom we have to do!

Nothing can be concealed from God!  Though He is invisible to us, we are not so to Him. Neither the darkness of night, the closest curtains, nor the deepest dungeon can hide any sinner from the eyes of Omniscience! Men would strip Deity of His omniscience if they could. They wish there might be no Witness of their sins, no Searcher of their hearts, no Judge of their deeds!

 

[A. W. Pink]

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Hebrews 4:13 ... Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Psalm 139:2-4 ... Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.  Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.  For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.

Ezekiel 11:5 ... And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the Lord; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.❤

The Only Food!!

The only real food of the soul must be of God's own appointing, preparing and communicating. You can never deceive a hungry child. You may give it a plaything to still its cries. It may serve for a few minutes; but the pains of hunger are not to be removed by a doll. A toy horse will not allay the cravings after the mother's milk. 

So it is with babes in grace, a hungry soul cannot feed upon playthings. Altars, robes, ceremonies, candlesticks, bowings, mutterings, painted windows, intoning priests, and singing men and women, these dolls and wooden horses, these toys and playthings of the religious baby house, cannot feed the soul that, like David, cries out after the living God. (Psalm 42:2) 

Christ, the bread of life, the manna that came down from Heaven is the only food of the believing soul! 

[J.C. Philpot] 

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Ezekiel 34:15 ... I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God.

John 6:51 ... I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

Jeremiah 15:16 ... Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.

1 Peter 2:2-3 ...  As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:  If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. ❤

Heart of Flesh.

Depend upon it, our hearts are all alike. To know that they are deceitful and desperately wicked, and to look to Jesus for mercy, help, and salvation are, I think, the greatest attainments we can rise to in this imperfect state. 

[John Newton]

Jeremiah 17:9 ... The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Ezekiel 11:19 ... And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

Psalm 51:10 ... Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.❤

Where Are You Going?

Dear Sinner,  TIME FLIES. The days, the weeks, the months and the years slip by with incredible speed, and are gone before we realize it. It seems as though they no more begin, than they are gone, passed into eternity. So, too, the happenings of the day soon recede into the distant past. Everything in this world is fleeting and transitory, nothing is stable and lasting. "We spend our years as a tale that is told" (Psalm 90:9). Being busily engrossed with the occupations, labors and pursuits of life we are more or less insensible to the swiftness of passing time, of the solemn fact that life itself is fast getting away from us, and that the end of our earthly journey is speedily and surely approaching. Or, if we are conscious that our time is getting short, either we dismiss the thought or reckon that somehow or other all will be well in the end.

How important it is that we keep in mind that our death is ever on the horizon, that we are but a heartbeat from it, and that when we die, we will be ushered into eternity from which there is no return or escape. Since death is so common we do not give this sufficient thought. We seem to have developed a sense of immunity to such an experience. Because death seems so vague, unreal and unlikely, we fail to take it into serious consideration. Instead, we live as though we were certain of many more years of life, whereas God's Word faithfully warns us: " Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth." (Proverbs 27:1).

We hear and read of large numbers being killed in war or by accident, of thousands starving to death in Africa and India. But we give this little or no thought; it doesn't mean much to us since we are not personally involved. A neighbor down the street dies, or one of our own dear ones is taken from us. This may cause us to stop and think for a moment, but soon it is largely gone from our memory and we go on our way day after day, probably with the thought in the back of our mind that we are safe and have no reason to be apprehensive. We have plenty of time yet.

Likely the thought of our death would take on a new and serious meaning if we knew that the moment we pass from this scene (and this could be and may be before this day is over we would awake in Hell, in the "everlasting burnings" (Isaiah 33:14) forever past all hope. But this is just what God's Word makes known to every unsaved sinner. Scripture is clear and plain that "the wicked shall be turned into Hell!" (Psalm 9:17); "the rich man also died and was buried, and in Hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments" (Luke 16:22).

Many take thought for their bodies, but totally neglect the interests of their immortal souls. But "what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:36-37). Most drift aimlessly through life without any care or concern as to what is before them after this fleeting life is over, seemingly taking it for granted that somehow or other everything will turn out all right with them in the end. This is what they hope; and they give themselves the benefit of any doubt.

Many have no consciousness of their lost condition. While they do not consider themselves perfect, yet they are not aware that there is anything seriously wrong with them. They are respectable, law-abiding citizens, and consider themselves no worse than their neighbors; and though they scarcely ever read the Bible or enter a church, they fully expect to go to Heaven when they die. Some will admit that they are sinners, but imagine that their good works will far outnumber their bad ones. Some fancy that all will be well with them because they have joined "the church of their choice," been baptized and partake of the Lord's supper. On the contrary, God's Word informs us that it is "not by works of righteousness which we have done" (Titus 3:5) that we are saved. Again, we are told that "there is none good but one, that is, God" (Matthew 19:17); that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), and that "the wrath of God abides" (John 3:36) on such. This is the condition of every unsaved sinner in the sight of God—be he king or beggar, high or low, rich or poor, moral or immoral, kind or unkind, religious or irreligious.

How prone is human nature to neglect or slight God's solemn warnings and threats of coming judgment!  We are told after death is the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). The reason is the apprehension of these things is disquieting and disturbing, hence men put such thoughts from them and go on their way. Few indeed are disturbed enough about their eternal future to cry out, "What must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30). O the consummate folly of such indifference and procrastination when your eternal destiny is at stake!

Soon, very soon, taking the longest possible view, you will go down to the dust and your spirit will return to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7). O my friend, do not lightly dismiss this matter from your thoughts, or your folly will only accentuate your misery in that Day. Far better to be made humble now for a time, than that you should weep and gnash your teeth (Matthew 8:12) forever. His gracious word to you is that God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that he turn from his wicked way and live (Ezekiel 33:11); that you repent and turn from all your transgressions: so iniquity shall not be your ruin (Ezekiel 18:30). Unless you savingly believe the gospel repenting of your sin (Mark 1:15), Christ Himself asks, "How can you escape the damnation of Hell?" (Matthew 23:33).

O sinner, will you continue another day with God's wrath hanging over your head? Remember, your day of grace may be all but over. God warns you, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man" (Genesis 6:3). Take heed to His divine admonition, "Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near! Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:6-7).

Hallelujah, what a Savior! Flee to Him now by faith while time and opportunity are yours. Cast yourself humbly and penitently at His feet and cry unto Him for mercy, for "Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).

Christ receives sinners. Will you come? "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2). "Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him" (Psalm 2:12).

[I.C. Herendeen]

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