Recently, a dear friend of mine lost a childhood best friend. Well, the childhood friend was a backslidden Christian. So, is the dear friend. Which is such dangerous territory due to the X factor of death. We are not promised tomorrow! So, according to Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:, you only have right now continually to decide to call on the Name of the Lord. To be continually counted among the redeemed.
In Isaiah 55:6-7, it says, 6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 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. You see, the Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He changes not. Back to my dear friend and her dear friend who passed away. She has been believing the Lord for her deliverance. I’m sure her friend was doing the same thing. But, deliverance works this way. Isaiah 1:10-20 10 Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. 11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. 12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? 13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 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. 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
True, broken repentance. Your choice. He adressed their
Sin. Even their sin in their worship and sacrifice without repentance. Then, in His great compassion, He tells us how to fix that. Did you see that? “Come let us reason together” means to “Come in unity with Christ and declare or decree” So, He is telling even us to come in unity with Christ and decree, or declare, or pass judgement against our sin. To come to Him with a broken and contrite spirit about our sinful nature.Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
When we do this, we are to turn our backs on that sinful lifestyle and behavior. We are to choose against it. You see, Jesus has done everything He was going to do concerning sin at the cross on Cavary’s Hill! The choice is left up to us to walk in it or not! This is how deliverance works. And His hand is very mighty to save. James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. How do we draw close to God, repentance. True broken repentance. This is how we will be entering the Kingdom of God. Bowed down and broken before Him. Acknowledgeing our being a constant sinner in desperate need of a Savior. That is not repoeating the same sin over and over again. But, a constant growing in the measure and stature of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Now back to my friend and her friend that passed away. My friend has an addiction problem and has been asking the Lord to deliver her. She will be puffing on a cigarette and saying, “The Lord is going to deliver me from this.” Let me say this. There is no magic wand on His deliverance. You either recieve it unto true repentance or not! He has done all He will do at Calvary’s hill. It is your choice to walk in it! He has given her opportunity upon opportunity to decide whether she will serve the Lord or not. Well, through the course of events, she has decided against His will. And, over time, has become backslidden. The Lord spoke to her, that if she did not change, He would give her over to it. Well, now she is full blown up in her sin. James 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Now the enemy is lying to her. Her words about her friends deathwere, “I want to believe that she cried out to the Lord in her coma. I want to believe she made heaven her home in that moment.” Be it the coma was life support and according to Hebrews, if she had not repented of her sin and sinful lifestyle, she did not make heaven her home. Would I tell her this. Unless the Lord would tell me to, I would not. But, instead her words showed me how the enemy lies to the body of Christ. His words not mine. This is the word of the Lord. “If you are hoping to return to Me on your death bed, I Am not in that. Now is the time to decide. You don’t know when I will say your time on this earth is at an end. I want you to make heaven your home more than you do. I showed you the depth and width of my desire and love for you. You are called to now repentance. Come before me broken and contrite over your sin and I will draw near to you. You will never have to choose alone. I will be with you in your decree against sin. My grace to make those choices against sin will go with you. But, you must choose who you will serve.
The God of this world. Or, My crucified way. Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Romans 12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
What is the Apostle Paul talking about? The old sinful nature of your old man. The nature and the man must be crucified. That is our reasonable service. You can not call yourself a Christian and not be Christ - like. We are to follow His example. And, if He could walk out a life without sinning, how much more should we be able to follow His footsteps. Picture a child growing up. His parent is his/her example of how to carry on in life. How to walk and talk. How to learn. How to constantly mature. So, it is in our relationship with Christ. If you truly want to live a convicted lifestyle in this day and age. I strongly suggest the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He is the power to walk this walk. He convicts us of sin. He encourges us in His word. He testifies of truth. His language is a love language between Him And the Father and the Son. That only they can understand. And, this drives the enemy nuts. That is why the body doesn’t talk about it a whole lot. The enemy has placed his conditions on the discussion of it. Which is “Don’t even mention it.” If you are not living a convicted lifestyle, get the baptism of the Holy Spirit. If you are living a life of discouragement and fear, get the baptism of the Holy Spirit. If you are not reading your bible and/or not understanding and keeping what you read; get the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
And for those who have the baptism of the Holy Spirit, if you are lacking conviction, hearing the voice of the Lord, if you are living a defeated lifestyle of fear doubt and unbelief. If you are lacking the desire to get in the Word of God and read to be a doer as well as a hearer, get in your prayer language. And the more oportunities not to pray in your prayer language, which by the way builds your most holy faith, pray in your prayer language.
For those of you who do not have the baptism of the Holy Spirit, let me pray for and with you. Lord Jesus, thank you so much for offering this wonderful gift to me. First, of salvation. Now, the precious Holy Spirit. I Accept your gift of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. I praise your Holy Name and want to know you more. The Holy Spirit promises to help me know you more. Thank you Lord. In Jesus name amen.
Now, begin to praise and thank Him for it. Open your mouth by faith. Let the words roll out. You will feel a bubble in your stomach. Don’t be afraid. That is the rivers of water that Jesus talks about. Let it come out. You may just have one syllable to start. That’s o.k. As you pray that one syllable, He will cause that language to grow. Just remember to praise and thank the Lord for it. For those who don’t speak in tongues right away, quit focusing on the gift. Focus on the giver of the gift. When you do that long enough, you will begin to speak in tongues. Remember He loves you and wants you to make heaven your home more than you do. He loves you and so do I.
Now, for those who have not asked Jesus Christ to come into their hearts, or you may be like my friend who has slowly backslidden waiting for a magic wand to be waved over her to remove the free will choice he has given her. If you have walked with the Lord, and find yourself to have walked away, I would like to pray with you. I would like to help bring you back to the Lord. Lord, I come before you. Broken and contrite. Humble and grievous over my choices. I want to come back to sweet fellowship with you. Jesus Christ, I give my heart, mind, and emotions to you. I ask you to consume them with fire of the Holy Spirit. I give you permission Lord Jesus to change me and my life forever. I want to walk in the crucified way. I want to be dead to the sinful nature and old carnal man. I know now, I have to choose each day, who i will serve. As of today, As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Thank you so very much Lord Jesus Christ, for accepting me back into your fold with your unconditional love. I ask and accept your sweet forgiveness of my sins. (Take a moment to call out those sins before your Lord and Creator. Then, thank him for His forgiveness of each and every sin.) I recommit to you today Lord Jesus. Thank you again for forgiving me and accepting me back. Use me Lord, again for your glory. In Jesus Christ’ mighty name. Amen.
Once again, I am so glad you could join me today. I am hoping you have a blessed day and week. Until we meet again.
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