Podcasts about his son

It's a terrible time during the Great Tribulation as the trumpets of judgment are blown by the angels. One third of the earth is destroyed and depopulated. These cataclysmic events are God's judgments on those who rejected His Son as Savior but hopefully, these these terrible times, many have will have a change of heart and receive Him as their Lord.

The Spirit of His Son- Sometimes we act more like slaves than sons in our relationship with God. We can still live under the weight of sin and condemnation. Since "the Spirit of His Son" now lives in us, we can choose to live in freedom, not bondage.

In this episode Josh and Kerry explore why the Savior taught in parables, and how to gain from them. As an example they discuss the Parable of the Soils and how we can learn from that about how to become someone who gains what God would have us gain from His Son's teachings.We are grateful for our sponsor, Lisa Spice, and for Alexia Muhlestein, who edited this video, and for Rich Nicholls, who composed and plays the music for the podcast.

Devotion on Lent, God's Love, Relationship with God, 1 John 4:10.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10 NIV). Last month, the stores were filled with red and pink. … But now it's March, and where have all the valentines gone? The sugar rush has long since faded, and even some relationships of February may not have lasted longer than the beautiful bouquets. For a holiday that boasts so much about love, it often falls short. Perhaps that is because the type of love we too often focus on is actually not love at all. What, then, is love? Download the printable PDF of this devotion Love's Atoning Sacrifice   Love's Atoning Sacrifice by Lisa Clark, St. Louis, Missouri Copyright © 2017, Revised 2023, Lutheran Women's Missionary League. All Rights Reserved.

On this weeks episode we ask this question - How does the Lord use the ordinary means of growth to conform us into the image of His Son? Lets consider 2 Timothy chapter 3 verses 15-17 as we hear of The Ordinary Means Of Spiritual Growth.

There is no will but God's.The idea for today can be regarded as the central thought toward which all our exercises are directed. God's is the only Will. When you have recognized this, you have recognized that your will is His. The belief that conflict is possible has gone. Peace has replaced the strange idea that you are torn by conflicting goals. As an expression of the Will of God, you have no goal but His. There is great peace in today's idea, and the exercises for today are directed towards finding it. The idea itself is wholly true. Therefore it cannot give rise to illusions. Without illusions conflict is impossible. Let us try to recognize this today, and experience the peace this recognition brings. Begin the longer practice periods by repeating these thoughts several times, slowly and with firm determination to understand what they mean, and to hold them in mind: There is no will but God's. I cannot be in conflict. Then spend several minutes in adding some related thoughts, such as: I am at peace. Nothing can disturb me. My will is God's. My will and God's are one. God wills peace for His Son. During this introductory phase, be sure to deal quickly with any conflict thoughts that may cross your mind. Tell yourself immediately: There is no will but God's. These conflict thoughts are meaningless. If there is one conflict area that seems particularly difficult to resolve, single it out for special consideration. Think about it briefly but very specifically, identify the particular person or persons and the situation or situations involved, and tell yourself: There is no will but God's. I share it with Him. My conflicts about -- cannot be real. After you have cleared your mind in this way, close your eyes and try to experience the peace to which your reality entitles you. Sink into it and feel it closing around you. There may be some temptation to mistake these attempts for withdrawal, but the difference is easily detected. If you are succeeding, you will feel a deep sense of joy and an increased alertness, rather than a feeling of drowsiness and enervation. Joy characterizes peace. By this experience will you recognize that you have reached it. If you feel yourself slipping off into withdrawal, quickly repeat the idea for today and try again. Do this as often as necessary. There is definite gain in refusing to allow retreat into withdrawal, even if you do not experience the peace you seek. In the shorter periods, which should be undertaken at regular and predetermined intervals today, say to yourself: There is no will but God's. I seek His peace today. Then try to find what you are seeking. A minute or two every half an hour, with eyes closed if possible, would be well spent on this today.- Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracles, Lesson 74

Category: Word, Real Life, and Prayer. Prayer is doubt's destroyer, ruin's remedy, the antidote to all anxieties. C.H. Spurgeon As we consider our groaning, in our use of our difficulties, the content of our prayer reflects on God's will in our groaning. We grow into a godly desire for our Savior's will alone. Matthew 6:10 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Luke 22:42 "Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done." His will? Romans 8:29 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; God's means of grace? Hebrews 12:11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Our "So What?" Our prayers should naturally reflect (You guessed it, David): Psalm 119:67 Before I was afflicted, I went astray, But now I keep Thy word. "What a man is on his knees before God, that he is and nothing more." Robert Murray M'Cheyne Assistant Editor: Seven Jefferson Gossard www.frponprayer.com freerangeprayer@gmail.com Facebook - Free Range Preacher Ministries Instagram: freerangeministries All our Scripture quotes are drawn from the NASB 1977 edition. For access to the Voice Over services of Richard Durrington, please visit RichardDurrington.com or email him at Durringtonr@gmail.com Our podcast art was designed by @sammmmmmmmm23 Instagram Season 005 Episode 059

Our selfless, Christ-like compassion paints a vivid picture for a skeptical world to see and embrace the love of God that sent His Son to ransom us. ►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

I will there be light. Today we are considering the will you share with God. This is not the same as the ego's idle wishes, out of which darkness and nothingness arise. The will you share with God has all the power of creation in it. The ego's idle wishes are unshared, and therefore have no power at all. Its wishes are not idle in the sense that they can make a world of illusions in which your belief can be very strong. But they are idle indeed in terms of creation. They make nothing that is real. Idle wishes and grievances are partners or co-makers in picturing the world you see. The wishes of the ego gave rise to it, and the ego's need for grievances, which are necessary to maintain it, peoples it with figures that seem to attack you and call for "righteous" judgment. These figures become the middlemen the ego employs to traffic in grievances. They stand between your awareness and your brothers' reality. Beholding them, you do not know your brothers or your Self. Your will is lost to you in this strange bartering, in which guilt is traded back and forth, and grievances increase with each exchange. Can such a world have been created by the Will the Son of God shares with his Father? Did God create disaster for His Son? Creation is the Will of Both together. Would God create a world that kills Himself? Today we will try once more to reach the world that is in accordance with your will. The light is in it because it does not oppose the Will of God. It is not Heaven, but the light of Heaven shines on it. Darkness has vanished. The ego's idle wishes have been withdrawn. Yet the light that shines upon this world reflects your will, and so it must be in you that we will look for it. Your picture of the world can only mirror what is within. The source of neither light nor darkness can be found without. Grievances darken your mind, and you look out on a darkened world. Forgiveness lifts the darkness, reasserts your will, and lets you look upon a world of light. We have repeatedly emphasized that the barrier of grievances is easily passed, and cannot stand between you and your salvation. The reason is very simple. Do you really want to be in hell? Do you really want to weep and suffer and die? Forget the ego's arguments which seek to prove all this is really Heaven. You know it is not so. You cannot want this for yourself. There is a point beyond which illusions cannot go. Suffering is not happiness, and it is happiness you really want. Such is your will in truth. And so salvation is your will as well. You want to succeed in what we are trying to do today. We undertake it with your blessing and your glad accord. We will succeed today if you remember that you want salvation for yourself. You want to accept God's plan because you share in it. You have no will that can really oppose it, and you do not want to do so. Salvation is for you. Above all else, you want the freedom to remember Who you really are. Today it is the ego that stands powerless before your will. Your will is free, and nothing can prevail against it. Therefore, we undertake the exercises for today in happy confidence, certain that we will find what it is your will to find, and remember what it is your will to remember. No idle wishes can detain us, nor deceive us with an illusion of strength. Today let your will be done, and end forever the insane belief that it is hell in place of Heaven that you choose. We will begin our longer practice periods with the recognition that God's plan for salvation, and only His, is wholly in accord with your will. It is not the purpose of an alien power, thrust upon you unwillingly. It is the one purpose here on which you and your Father are in perfect accord. You will succeed today, the time appointed for the release of the Son of God from hell and from all idle wishes. His will is now restored to his awareness. He is willing this very day to look upon the light in him and be saved. After reminding yourself of this, and determining to keep your will clearly in mind, tell yourself with gentle firmness and quiet certainty: I will there be light. Let me behold the light that reflects God's Will and mine. Then let your will assert itself, joined with the power of God and united with your Self. Put the rest of the practice period under Their guidance. Join with Them as They lead the way. In the shorter practice periods, again make a declaration of what you really want. Say: I will there be light. Darkness is not my will. This should be repeated several times an hour. It is most important, however, to apply today's idea in this form immediately you are tempted to hold a grievance of any kind. This will help you let your grievances go, instead of cherishing them and hiding them in darkness.- Jesus Christ in A Course in MIracles, Lesson 73

God knows the darkness that afflicts you. That's why He brought His Son, His light into the world. Guest speaker Nate Opfer defines what it means to believe in the light and live with eyes wide open to the promises of God. Download the Transcript of Today's PodcastDoes God exist? What is He like? How can I get to know Him? These are questions often asked about the most important relationship you can ever have. And since we are called to know God as He really is, not how we think He might be, Pastor Nat Crawford has compiled "Knowing God," a Win the Day Bible Study Guide to help you or someone you love get to know the God of the Bible. We trust you'll enjoy "Knowing God."Get this offer for a gift of any amount today.

Sensitivity to the Holy SpiritSeries:  The Holy Spirit Scripture:  MultipleSermon by: Rev. Paul LawlerTo become sensitive to the Holy Spirit requires that we become aware of the sensitivity of the Holy Spirit. A fruit of the Holy Spirit is “gentleness” (Galatians 5:23). Paul urged in Philippians 4:5, “Let your gentleness be evident to all.”We can run ahead of God.  We can run ahead of God by not adjusting to His Word, focusing on His Son, and adjusting to the sensitivity of the Holy Spirit. But it's in the adjusting to God that God does the new thing in our lives; a life-giving thing – A new formation taking place in your life! That new formation is the very life of God in you --- The Holy Spirit. 

Holding grievances is an attack on God's plan for salvation.. While we have recognized that the ego's plan for salvation is the opposite of God's, we have not yet emphasized that it is an active attack on His plan, and a deliberate attempt to destroy it. In the attack, God is assigned the attributes which are actually associated with the ego, while the ego appears to take on the attributes of God. The ego's fundamental wish is to replace God. In fact, the ego is the physical embodiment of that wish. For it is that wish that seems to surround the mind with a body, keeping it separate and alone, and unable to reach other minds except through the body that was made to imprison it. The limit on communication cannot be the best means to expand communication. Yet the ego would have you believe that it is. Although the attempt to keep the limitations that a body would impose is obvious here, it is perhaps not so apparent why holding grievances is an attack on God's plan for salvation. But let us consider the kinds of things you are apt to hold grievances for. Are they not always associated with something a body does? A person says something you do not like. He does something that displeases you. He "betrays" his hostile thoughts in his behavior. You are not dealing here with what the person is. On the contrary, you are exclusively concerned with what he does in a body. You are doing more than failing to help in freeing him from the body's limitations. You are actively trying to hold him to it by confusing it with him, and judging them as one. Herein is God attacked, for if His Son is only a body, so must He be as well. A creator wholly unlike his creation is inconceivable. If God is a body, what must His plan for salvation be? What could it be but death? In trying to present Himself as the Author of life and not of death, He is a liar and a deceiver, full of false promises and offering illusions in place of truth. The body's apparent reality makes this view of God quite convincing. In fact, if the body were real, it would be difficult indeed to escape this conclusion. And every grievance that you hold insists that the body is real. It overlooks entirely what your brother is. It reinforces your belief that he is a body, and condemns him for it. And it asserts that his salvation must be death, projecting this attack onto God, and holding Him responsible for it. To this carefully prepared arena, where angry animals seek for prey and mercy cannot enter, the ego comes to save you. God made you a body. Very well. Let us accept this and be glad. As a body, do not let yourself be deprived of what the body offers. Take the little you can get. God gave you nothing. The body is your only savior. It is the death of God and your salvation. This is the universal belief of the world you see. Some hate the body, and try to hurt and humiliate it. Others love the body, and try to glorify and exalt it. But while the body stands at the center of your concept of yourself, you are attacking God's plan for salvation, and holding your grievances against Him and His creation, that you may not hear the Voice of truth and welcome It as Friend. Your chosen savior takes His place instead. It is your friend; He is your enemy. We will try today to stop these senseless attacks on salvation. We will try to welcome it instead. Your upside-down perception has been ruinous to your peace of mind. You have seen yourself in a body and the truth outside you, locked away from your awareness by the body's limitations. Now we are going to try to see this differently. The light of truth is in us, where it was placed by God. It is the body that is outside us, and is not our concern. To be without a body is to be in our natural state. To recognize the light of truth in us is to recognize ourselves as we are. To see our Self as separate from the body is to end the attack on God's plan for salvation, and to accept it instead. And wherever His plan is accepted, it is accomplished already. Our goal in the longer practice periods today is to become aware that God's plan for salvation has already been accomplished in us. To achieve this goal, we must replace attack with acceptance. As long as we attack it, we cannot understand what God's plan for us is. We are therefore attacking what we do not recognize. Now we are going to try to lay judgment aside, and ask what God's plan for us is: What is salvation, Father? I do not know. Tell me, that I may understand. Then we will wait in quiet for His answer. We have attacked God's plan for salvation without waiting to hear what it is. We have shouted our grievances so loudly that we have not listened to His Voice. We have used our grievances to close our eyes and stop our ears. Now we would see and hear and learn. "What is salvation, Father?" Ask and you will be answered. Seek and you will find. We are no longer asking the ego what salvation is and where to find it. We are asking it of truth. Be certain, then, that the answer will be true because of Whom you ask. Whenever you feel your confidence wane and your hope of success flicker and go out, repeat your question and your request, remembering that you are asking of the infinite Creator of infinity, Who created you like Himself: What is salvation, Father? I do not know. Tell me, that I may understand. He will answer. Be determined to hear. One or perhaps two shorter practice periods an hour will be enough for today, since they will be somewhat longer than usual. These exercises should begin with this: Holding grievances is an attack on God's plan for salvation. Let me accept it instead. What is salvation, Father? Then wait a minute or so in silence, preferably with your eyes closed, and listen for His answer. - Jesus Christ in A Course in MIracles, Lesson 72

Episode 12March 13 - March 19 | Matthew 11-12; Luke 11  | “I Will Give You Rest ”Get yokedDrunk driverHospital prayers #OldTestament2022 #comefollowme #comefollowme2022 #TalkofHim #FindHimJoin hosts Ganel-Lyn Condie and John Fossum on this New Testament episode of Talk of Him as we explore these important themes, topics, and questions from Matthew 11-12; Luke 11:Matthew 11:28-30 - get yoked!Being yoked to Christ means He will help us while still letting us feel the weight so we can grow!The portion that we are called to bear is a sacred stewardship that connects us to the Savior.“Drop [your] burdens at his feet and bear a song away” - LDS Hymnal #125Prayer is about an open conversation that brings your will in line with God! —Invitation: Try to find time this week to read Luke 11. What do you see in Jesus's interactions with others in Luke 11 that can give you hope and comfort when you feel overwhelmed or paralyzed by fear, anxiety, or pain?— Quotes & Links: Link to FIND HIM New Testament Study Guide:https://www.seagullbook.com/find-him-new-testament-come-follow-me-guidebook.html “As we draw nearer to [the Savior], surrendering ourselves spiritually to His care, we will be able to take upon ourselves His yoke, which is easy, and His burden, which is light, thus finding that promised comfort and rest. Furthermore, we will receive the strength we all need to overcome the hardships, weaknesses, and sorrows of life, which are exceedingly difficult to endure without His help and healing power” (Elder Ulisses Soares, “Jesus Christ: The Caregiver of Our Soul,” Ensign, May 2021).“Even in turbulent times, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is gritty and resilient. It helps us sift through unimportant distractions. It encourages us to keep moving along the covenant path. Faith pushes through discouragement and allows us to face the future with resolve and squared shoulders. It prompts us to ask for rescue and relief as we pray to the Father in the name of His Son. And when prayerful pleas seem to go unanswered, our persistent faith in Jesus Christ produces patience, humility, and the ability to reverently utter the words “Thy will be done.” (2020–O:80, Lisa L. Harkness, Peace, Be Still)“While faith is not a perfect knowledge, it brings a deep trust in God, whose knowledge is perfect!” (Neal A. Maxwell, “Lest Ye Be Wearied and Faint in Your Minds,” Ensign, May 1991, 89.)—Talk of Him is presented by Seagull Book and hosted by Ganel-Lyn Condie and John Fossum.

When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away. Luke 4:28–30One of the first places Jesus went to begin His public ministry was His own home town. After entering the Synagogue and reading from the Prophet Isaiah, Jesus proclaimed that the prophecy of Isaiah was now fulfilled in His very person. This caused His townspeople to be outraged at Him, thinking He was blaspheming. So they shockingly sought to immediately kill Jesus by driving Him out of their town to the brow of a hill off which they meant to throw Him. But then something fascinating happened. Jesus “passed through the midst of them and went away.”The Father eventually permitted the grave evil of the death of His Son to take place, but only in His time. It's unclear from this passage how Jesus was able to avoid being killed right then at the beginning of His ministry, but what's important to know is that He was able to avoid this because it was not His time. The Father had more for Jesus to do before He would permit Him to offer His life freely for the salvation of the world.This same reality is true for our own lives. God does permit evil to happen, at times, because of the irrevocable gift of free will. When people choose evil, God will allow them to proceed—but always with a caveat. The caveat is that God only permits evil to be inflicted upon others when that evil is able to be ultimately used for God's glory and for some form of good. And it is only permitted in God's time. If we do evil ourselves, choosing sin rather than the will of God, then the evil that we do will end in our own loss of grace. But when we are faithful to God and some external evil is imposed upon us by another, God permits this only when that evil can be redeemed and used for His glory.The best example of this is, of course, the passion and death of Jesus. A far greater good came forth from that event than the evil itself. But it was only permitted by God when the time was right, in accord with God's will. Reflect, today, upon the glorious fact that any evil or any suffering inflicted upon you unjustly can end in the glory of God and the greater salvation of souls. No matter what you may suffer in life, if God permits it, then it is always possible for that suffering to share in the redeeming power of the Cross. Consider any suffering you have endured and embrace it freely, knowing that if God permitted it, then He certainly has some greater purpose in mind. Surrender that suffering over with the utmost confidence and trust and allow God to do glorious things through it. God of all wisdom, I know that You know all things and that all things can be used for Your glory and for the salvation of my soul. Help me to trust You, especially when I endure suffering in life. May I never despair when treated unjustly and may my hope always be in You and in Your power to redeem all things. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2023 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

How God Says He Loves Us: Part 3 -- The Covenant with Moses MESSAGE SUMMARY: Throughout human history, God has reached out to humans for a personal relationship and to express His love for humankind. We have a God that loves us so much, and God's love for us is expressed to us through His “covenants”. Also, God's “covenants” reveal to us His grace and faithfulness. In today's message, we will discuss God's Covenant with Moses. A “covenant” can be defined as an “oath or promise of God”. In a Biblical covenant: 1) God establishes the Covenant; 2) God always implies that “I am your God, and you are my people” – God desires a personal relationship with us; and 3) God sets the Covenant's terms and rulers. After God's Covenant with Abraham, his son Isaac became the recipient of God's blessings. Subsequently, Isaac had two sons. One of Isaac's sons was Jacob, and God changed Jacobs name to Israel. Jacob had twelve sons, and they evolved into the “Twelve Tribes of Israel”. In Genesis 37, the focus begins upon Isaac's son Joseph; and Genesis ends, in Genesis 50, with Joseph's death in Egypt. In Exodus 1, two hundred and fifty years have passed since the death of Joseph. During this time, God's people and the people of Egypt forgot about Joseph. God's people became fruitful and multiplied, but they forgot about God and God's Covenant with Abraham; and the people began to worship idols. Exodus 2 presents the birth of Moses., and Exodus 3 includes God's call to Moses and God's appearance to Moses through the burning bush. Since God had a blood covenant with His people, He sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to let His people leave Egypt. Pharaoh said “no”, so God sent nine plagues on the people of Egypt – nine chances for their Repentance. Since Pharaoh continued to say “no”, God sent the tenth plague on the people of Egypt – a plague of Judgement on the people of Egypt. After the Passover for His people in the Plague of Judgement, Pharaoh relented and let God's people leave Egypt. In Exodus 19, God's people wound up on Mount Sini, and God made the “Sini Covenant” with Moses in Exodus 19:4-6: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”. In prior covenants, God did everything; but in this “Sini Covenant”, the people had obligations. God gives His Law, the Ten Commandments, to His people as God speaks directly to them in Exodus 20. The Glory of God, when He was speaking directly to His people, was too much for the people; and they feared a direct personal relationship with God, and they wanted Moses or an intermediary to speak to them for God – they rejected a personal relationship with God just has humans have been doing ever since. In Exodus 21, Exodus 22, and Exodus 23 (“The Book of the Covenant”), God takes His Ten Commandments and He applies the Ten Commandments to our everyday living. In Exodus 24:3,7-8, Moses takes God's Book of the Covenant to the people: “Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.' Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, ‘All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.' And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, ‘Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.'”. Deuteronomy 28 presents the “blessings” for the people if they adhere to their promises to God in the “Book of the Covenant”. On the other hand, Deuteronomy 28 lays out the “curses” for non-adherence to the Covenant. Within six weeks, God's people, who had said “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do”, had disobeyed and broken their Covenant with God. The disobedience of God's people is significant to us today because “it shows us what sin is”. “God is unconditional love” (1 John 4:16); and in this Covenant, God made plain to all of us “what sin is”. “We are made by God to be perfect mirrors of God's Agape love.” Our sin is our failure to act as the God of Agape love acts. Sin is our self-centeredness.  “The opposite of love is not hate; sin is me.” The Ten Commandments are not negative; they are God's Agape love because they show us what a life of love and without sin and death does not include. Jesus tells us the most important Commandment in Mark 12:28-30: “'. . . Which commandment is the most important of all?' Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these.'”. The people of Israel continued to mess up and sin, but they continued to sacrifice a lamb for their sin thinking that their sacrifice brought their lives of sin back into adherence with their Covenant. However, in both God's impatience with our sin and in His Agape love and His adherence to this Covenant, God sent the perfect Lamb as His and our sacrifice for our sin – Jesus the Christ. This old Covenant points to God's New Covenant – Jesus' death on the cross and His Resurrection. Have you asked Jesus into your life so that your sin is atoned? If not, then there is a blot between you and God. Remember, the God who made Covenant with Moses is Jesus of our Trinitarian God.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus' name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, IAM FORGIVEN. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Genesis 3:15; Genesis 37:1-36; Genesis 39:1-23; Genesis 41:1-57; Genesis 42:1-38; Genesis 43:1-34; Genesis 44:1-34; Genesis 45:1-28; Genesis 46:1-34; Genesis 47:1-31; Genesis 50:1-26;  Exodus 1:1-22; Exodus 2:1-25; Exodus 3:1-22; Exodus 19:3-11; Exodus 24:1-18; Deuteronomy 28:1-68; 1 John 4:16; Mark 12:29-30; SCRIPTURE REFERENCE SEARCH: www.AWFTL.org/bible-search/ A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “Jesus Followers Should Fear, Respect, and Praise God's Power, Sovereignty, and Holiness; but in Life's Trials They Should “fear not for I {Jesus} am with you always””: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/   DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

THE PIVOTAL MOMENT IN HISTORY If you asked anyone to identify THE supreme moment in history, they'd all have different answers. However, from God's point of view, that moment was the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. As humans, we can't comprehend all that happened at the cross, but God has given us deeper understanding of what transpired in His Word. 

There are certain words the writer of the book of Jonah uses to emphasize important elements of the story. Words like “great” and “down.” But there's another important word that is in fact, one of the most fundamental words in the Bible. GO. Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, and Esther – all were called by God to GO. To step out in faith. To take a risk. And because they obeyed, they changed the course of history. Unfortunately, over time, God's people began to define their holiness not in terms of GO, but in terms of STOP. What they had stopped doing. Where they had stopped going. Who they had stopped being with. As a result, they ceased being influencers for good. This is the deeper meaning of the book of Jonah.  It wasn't merely the story of a man who refused to GO to those God had a heart for, it was the story of a nation who refused to fulfill its purpose. Nowhere was this seen more clearly than in the lives of a group called the Pharisees, a first-century sect whose religion was one of prohibition rather than liberation.  As you can imagine, this approach put them on a collision course with Jesus. Jesus didn't confuse being set apart for God with being set apart from people. Rather, at all times and in all ways, He sought to engage, to help, to heal, and to restore. Rather than running from evil to good, He brought good to evil.   The tragedy is that, in our day, all too many would-be disciples have embraced the ethic of the Pharisees rather than the ethic of Jesus.  For them, the word isn't “go,” but “stop.” Friends, the heart of Christian discipleship is not what you have stopped but how you're going.  It's not primarily evidenced by what you've avoided but in how you're engaged. Jesus made the importance of this quite clear in how He lived.  But He also made it quite clear in what He taught. John 20:21 captures that: “As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.” Notice that first little word: As. That two-letter word contains both a motive and a model.   Why did God send His Son into this broken world?  Because He loved it. As with Him, so must it be with us.  As those who have touched by His outrageous love, so we are called to love.   But not only is that our motive, it's our model. Jesus didn't love from a distance. Jesus didn't play it safe. Jesus was engaged. Jesus got involved.  Christ's ethic sends us into the fray.  It's about engagement.  It's about restoration.  It's about healing. It's about going. Jesus' last words, words that are known as “The Great Commission” summarize not only His life but His call to everyone who would be His disciple: “GO into all the world…go into the marketplace…go into the schools…go into the neighborhoods of your city. Go into the prisons and the hospitals and the food banks. Go into all the world. And don't leave it as you found it.”  Text: Jonah 3:1Originally recorded on May 15, 2011, at Fellowship Missionary Church, Fort Wayne, IN.  

Jesus Followers Should Fear, Respect, and Praise God's Power, Sovereignty, and Holiness; but in Life's Trials They Should “fear not for I {Jesus} am with you always” MESSAGE SUMMARY: You should fear, respect, and praise God's power, Sovereignty, and Holiness; but, as a Jesus Follower, you should “fear not” in life's trials and tribulations or at your time of judgment. As David's praise tells us in Psalms 103:13: “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.”. David models again and again, in Psalms, how we should praise God. For example, in Psalms 146, David says: "Put not your trust in Princes; Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, Oh my soul!". When we are wondering how to praise the Lord, we can read one of David's Psalms to God like David's praises to the Lord in Psalms 112:1-2: “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.". Also, we learn in Proverbs 1:7, the “fear of the Lord” and “wisdom” are closely linked: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.". These verses from the Old Testament point to the fear, respect, and praise that God warrants and demands from His power, sovereignty, and Holiness. On the other hand, as we see when the Apostle John quotes Jesus from Revelation 1:17-18, when Jesus, in all His power and Glory, reassures us of God's Grace and His plan for working out the Salvation and Eternal Life for all those that have accepted Jesus as their Savior: “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.'”.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, Sabbath rest is truly an unbelievable gift! Thank you that there is nothing I can do to earn your love; it comes without any strings attached. As I close my eyes for these few minutes before you, all I can say is, thank you! In Jesus' name, amen.  Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 133). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, IAM FORGIVEN. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Revelation 1:17-18; Psalms 118:1-20; Proverbs 1:7; Psalms 73a:1-14. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “How God Says He Loves Us: Part 3 -- The Covenant with Moses” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/    DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

God acted to forgive your sins through the saving work of His Son, Jesus Christ.

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, Prosperity within your palaces." For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will now say, "Peace be within you." Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek your good. Welcome back to Pastor's Chat! Thank you so much for your patience these past two weeks while we were away on tour to the Holy Land with a wonderful group of 16 people. There was at least one person from each of the four churches I've been privileged to minister to as a pastor. We had a glorious experience as we went to the places where our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ lived and minister to the people during His thirty-three and half years on earth. At the end of my video chat today I've included a collage of pictures that highlight the last three days of our time in Jerusalem. Please watch it to the very end. Psalm 122 was written by King David as one of his three “Pilgrim Psalms.” No doubt this Psalm was written after he had captured the city of Jerusalem from the Jebusites, built the City of David, and set up the Tent of Tabernacle on Mt. Moriah for the Ark of the Covenant. David hears the people as they voice their desire to go and worship in the house of the LORD and he is eager to join them. In this Psalm we first see people with a “Heart for God” (vv. 1-2). The people that joined me on this trip had this same heart in seeking to worship the Lord. And now can say “Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem”. We also notice that the people in David's time had a “Heart for Praise” (vv.3-5). The Lord had told His people that one day there would be a central place where they would worship (Ex. 23:14-19; Deut. 12:5-7, 11-14, 17-19; 14:23; 16:2, 16), and that place was Jerusalem. The Lord instructed David that the place on Mount Moriah where he had built the altar was to be the site for the temple (1 Chron. 21-22), and He also gave David the plans for the structure (1 Chron. 28). His choice was a wise one, for not only was Mount Zion an almost impregnable citadel, but it was located on the border of Judah and Benjamin and helped to bind the northern and southern tribes together. King Saul was from Benjamin, and David was from Judah. When the psalmist looked at the city, he thought of unity and security. Just as the stones of the walls and houses were "bound firmly together," so the people were bound together in their worship of the Lord and their respect for the throne. The church today already has spiritual unity (Eph. 4:1-6), but we must endeavor to maintain it and demonstrate it before a watching world (John 17:20-23). As for security, Jesus promised that the very forces of hell could not stand before the onward march of His church (Matt. 16:18). But it was the praise of Jehovah that was central (v. 4). God had commanded that His people go to Jerusalem for the feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles (Ex. 23:14-19; John 4:20-21), and the people went as worshipers and not sightseers. Yes, there was much to see in Jerusalem, but giving thanks to the Lord was their most important task and their greatest privilege. The third thing that David and the people had was a “Heart for Prayer and Peace” (vv. 6-9) that would produce “prosperity”. This prosperity mentioned in verse 6 does not refer to material wealth but primarily to the spiritual enrichment that comes to those who love God, His Son (born a Jew), His Word (a Jewish Book), and His chosen people! Our awesome team truly experienced that these past two weeks and we will never be the same! Maybe one day you can join us on a trip to the Holy Land!

The Names of GodAbba - FatherWelcome to our series called The Names of God. Inspired by our online course, Connecting with God - An Eight Week Online Experience, this series is going to spend time meditating on some of the names God has been know by.It's one thing to know you have a father in heaven; having “head knowledge” of this matter-of-fact statement. Yet there is a drastic difference in actually experiencing the relationship first hand.Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” - Galatians 4:6 NASBThe Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” - Romans 8:15 NIV“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” - Mark 14:36 NIVIf Jesus modeled the perfect relationship with his heavenly father, calling upon him as daddy, even when facing the cross, what are we to learn from this?Do you have the level of intimacy with God that allows you to call him Abba, even in the hardest places?Blessing you to come into the fulness of understanding you are loved by your father in heaven.Become a PatronCultivate Connection has reached listeners in 157 countries, averaging 1,100 downloads a week. Help us reach even more by sharing Cultivate Connection with others.If you are one of the many who have been blessed by Cultivate Connection, become a monthly patron. As a patron, your generosity helps us create, host, and promote experiences that help others grow their relationship with God. Learn more on our website at CultivateConnection.com

For us who know God, we know the presence of God either changes us or changes the situation we're in. God assures us He works everything for our good and according to His purposes. And what are His purposes? To change us into the sons and daughters He created us to be – just like His Son. So,, if God is for us, who can be against us? Really, only us. God's love for us never ceases, never diminishes. He is continually calling us to following Him into our future. To turn our hearts toward His so we can fully experience the goodness of our His love in every moment of our lives. In the tapestry of our lives, there is one strand that is interwoven into every fiber of our being; it is the love of God. Might we consider and realize there is no greater goal, greater purpose for ourselves than to grow up into the men and women of God? People who know we were made to carry light into darkness? Let's be brave and follow His light – wherever He goes. Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Nancy Holland, Joy Peyton and Adam Maddock

Without God's grace judgment is inevitable. The visions of judgment found in the book of Amos are examined. God will judge people according to His righteouss standard. All mere men will fall short of God's standard. God has given His Son, Jesus Christ, so that those who turn to Him will escape the wrath of God and find peace with Him. God's grace is abounding and offered to all men. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/81/29

Jamie Walden joining the Marine Corps career was pivotal in his development both as a leader, and what would later be refined into unfettered zeal for the Kingdom of God. Intensive training across a wide spectrum of disciplines served to equip Jamie and his unit to achieve overwhelming victory on the March to Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. After leaving the Marines Corps, Jamie obtained a double major B.S. in Law Enforcement and History. However, it was also during this same period of time that the Holy Spirit began a radical unveiling of both Jamie's contemptuous standing before the Holy Lord and the New Life offered for the forgiveness of sins in His Son, Jesus Christ. In unconditional surrender, a concept all but inconceivable to Jamie, he forever yielded his will to the Mission and leading of his Savior. Pursuing a career in Federal Law Enforcement, Jamie was selected as an Intern for the United States Marshals Service, and subsequent recruitment to a “Three Letter” agency. It was then, when Jamie received “the call”, that the Lord began testing and affirming the genuineness of his faith. In what began with “DO NOT TAKE THAT JOB,” the Lord initiated a succession of intimate, often painful, promptings that directed Jamie's steps to life of service to the Kingdom. Jamie now endeavors tirelessly to strengthen, equip, and challenge a “Warrior Class” of Christians to arise and take their places as Victors in this generation!

Without God's grace judgment is inevitable. The visions of judgment found in the book of Amos are examined. God will judge people according to His righteouss standard. All mere men will fall short of God's standard. God has given His Son, Jesus Christ, so that those who turn to Him will escape the wrath of God and find peace with Him. God's grace is abounding and offered to all men. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/81/29

I have plenty of good friends that I love. It's fun to celebrate birthdays and holidays with them or just hang out and watch sports. They love and care about me, and it's easy for me to love them back. The difficulty comes when someone treats us badly and hurts us in different ways, then anger and resentment begin to rise up inside. We know that God wants us to not only forgive our enemies but to love them too. And that's hard. We have to rely on God to give us the ability to do that. In First John, chapter four, we read, we love each other because God loved us first. God loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us so that we can be made right in His eyes and our relationship with Him. If you've received Jesus as your savior, you've been forgiven. You can also forgive someone else, can't you? Yes, you can. This is Andrew Palau. Scripture-1 John 4:19 radio.hopewithgod.com

Without God's grace judgment is inevitable. The visions of judgment found in the book of Amos are examined. God will judge people according to His righteouss standard. All mere men will fall short of God's standard. God has given His Son, Jesus Christ, so that those who turn to Him will escape the wrath of God and find peace with Him. God's grace is abounding and offered to all men. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/81/29

Without God's grace judgment is inevitable. The visions of judgment found in the book of Amos are examined. God will judge people according to His righteouss standard. All mere men will fall short of God's standard. God has given His Son, Jesus Christ, so that those who turn to Him will escape the wrath of God and find peace with Him. God's grace is abounding and offered to all men. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/81/29

Tuesday, 7 March 2023   Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. Acts 15:6   In the previous verse, some of the Pharisees rose and stated that it was necessary for the Gentiles to be circumcised and observe the Law of Moses. With this idea put forth, Luke continues with, “Now the apostles and elders.”   The words more correctly read, “Now the apostles and the elders.” They are two distinct categories that are being highlighted which are clearly separate offices at this time. Together, they “came together.”   Rather, the verb is imperfect and in the passive voice, they “were gathered together.” At someone's direction or maybe through prayer and the leading of the Spirit, they were gathered together. And this occurrence was “to consider this matter.”   More literally it says, “to see about this matter.” They were going to look at it, evaluate it, and then decide what should be done. For those, like Paul, who understood the magnitude of the decision, it would shape the entire future of the church and set off the importance of the cross accordingly.   If the challenge by the Pharisees prevailed, the cross would become no more than an added key in the process of opening the door of entry into law observance under Judaism. The shed blood of Jesus Christ would be considered entirely ineffectual for salvation. This is because the Law of Moses had a high priest. It also had sacrifices, including the annual Day of Atonement.   If the Law of Moses had to be kept, it means that these Gentiles would be obligated to observe those sacrificial rites, thus placing the blood of bulls and goats over the blood of Christ. Further, it would thoroughly diminish innumerable passages found in their own Scriptures that pointed to God's saving grace apart from the law.   For example, in Numbers 21, this short passage is seen –   “Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.' 6 So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. 7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.' So Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.' 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” Numbers 21:4-9   This account was partially given to show that faith, apart from the Law of Moses, healed the people. Jesus then spoke of it, equating what occurred to His own work –   “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:14-17   Though the book of John was not yet written, the account of Jesus' words was certainly known. But even if this were not true, the account stood as a witness of God's acceptance of faith apart from law observance. If the apostles and elders could not see this matter through correctly, the entire point of faith alone in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sin would be nullified.   Life application: We don't need to read the account any further to know that the right decision will be made concerning the issue at hand. This is because if God is behind the message of Jesus, that message will ultimately prevail. He would not have sent Christ into the world if He knew the offer would not continue to be properly considered.   We might say, “But there are Judaizers all over the world today, standing against the truth of the cross and reinserting the law. See, the message has failed.” This is incorrect. Now, with the completion of Scripture, the truth of God in Christ and the fully effectual work of the cross is recorded there. This council in Jerusalem is a part of that body of literature, and it stands as a witness to what God had determined.   The fault is not in God, nor is it a lack in the word of God. Rather, the fault is in those who ignore, misunderstand, or purposefully twist the word. God has made proper Christian theology and set doctrine fully obtainable. Now, it is up to each person to consider what the Bible says and to follow it, in context, according to how it is presented.   This is our immediate task, our daily task, and our lifelong task. We are to learn this word and then continue to consider it always. Hold fast to the word. It is our personal love letter from the God of the universe to keep us safe and close to Him until the day He brings us to Himself.   Glorious Lord God, how precious is Your word. How sacred are its contents. How immutable are the truths it contains. Help us to cherish Your word because it is what tells us about Your love for us in the giving of Jesus. May our hearts be carefully obedient in applying its precepts to our lives for all our days. Amen.

Monday, 6 March 2023   But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.” Acts 15:5   The previous verse had Paul and Barnabas reveal to those gathered in Jerusalem all that God had done through them. This was a ministry that started with evangelizing the Jews. This continued at each city they traveled to, but it eventually went almost solely to the Gentiles, such as was recorded of the evangelism in Antioch of Pisidia –   “Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, ‘It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us: “I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.”' 48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” Acts 13:46-48   In such instances, these Gentiles believed the word they heard without a single note of law observance. In fact, the only substantial mentioning of the law was essentially a note revealing the inadequate nature of the law to perfect anything –   “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; 39 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” Acts 13:38, 39   Despite this, and despite the obvious nature of God's grace being the reason for sending Jesus Christ, it next says, “But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up.”   A margin note in some texts makes these words a part of the narration of Paul and Barnabas. In other words, it is still them speaking about the events that occurred including the coming of the Judaizers to Antioch which precipitated the journey to Jerusalem. However, it appears more natural that this is not their narration of the past, but a renewed attack against the doctrine of Paul and Barnabas during the gathering.   As such, while the assembly was seated, these men rose up to speak. This is what Paul did in Acts 13:16 when he was asked to speak to the synagogue there. These Pharisees have risen up to state their voice. Here, it clearly says that these were believers. They had heard the word of faith and they had received it as such. Despite this, they began by saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them.”   If they had stopped with these words and explained them as referring to the circumcision of the flesh according to the instructions given to Abraham, they may have been able to convince the gathering that it was necessary as a sign of that covenant. However, there was already a sign of entrance into the New Covenant, which even the circumcision of Abraham anticipated.   Abraham believed and was deemed as righteous (Genesis 15:6). Later, the Lord instructed him and all with him to be circumcised as a sign of the covenant (Genesis 17). But those things, when properly understood, only anticipated the coming of Christ. As such, faith is what saves. After faith comes, the rite of baptism is then administered as an ordinance. It is an outward sign of the inner change that has taken place.   Circumcision did not save Abraham and water baptism does not save a believer. But bringing up the circumcision of Abraham may have helped flesh this matter out more fully. That did not happen, but the epistles will more fully explain such things. Despite this, the circumcision of the flesh is not all that is on the mind of these Pharisees. As they next say, “and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”   This goes back to the same false doctrine that was introduced in Acts 15:1 –   “And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.'”   To more fully understand the weight of this teaching, refer to that commentary. In short, these words would heap the entire Law of Moses, with all of its many rules and regulations, directly on the shoulders of the Gentile believers. It would also mean that their conversion, meaning their belief in the gospel message, was insufficient to save them. They were still condemned, and they would have to be brought into the bondage of the law to be free. The thought is contradictory and twisted.   This is what Paul wrote about in his letter to those in Galatia –   “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?” Galatians 3:1-4   If they had received the Spirit after believing, it was a clear indication that God had approved of them, and they were saved. Deal done. Paul and Barnabas have presented their words to the council in Jerusalem, and it is as if what he has conveyed meant nothing at all. To these Judaizers who have arisen, it is as if the work of Jesus Christ that began in them was only partially effective, but they had to continue to work towards their salvation.   Life application: The words of the Pharisees do not mean that they were not saved. But it does mean that they have completely misunderstood what happened when they believed the gospel message. God's grace was poured out on them, but they thought that it was an initial act of grace only. To them, this allowance opened a door that they needed to keep open on their own merits. But this is contrary to the words of the Lord that will be spoken later to John –   “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.” Revelation 3:8   It also is contrary to the words of Jesus during His earthly ministry –   “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:16-18   The work of Jesus Christ isn't merely an initial act of grace but an eternal one. Today, because of the decision of the council in Jerusalem, and also because of the words of the epistles, what the Pharisees have proposed in Acts 15 are heretical and to be condemned by any who teach them. At the time, this was a necessary step for the church to take so that such issues could be completely understood and recorded.   Unfortunately, to this day people reinsert the law into their Christian theology. Do not allow this to be imposed upon you! Live in Christ and by the grace of Christ. Trust in His merits. God was fully pleased with the work of Christ, evidenced by the resurrection. Why would you assume that God is any less pleased with you when you have trusted in the work of Christ?   Thank You, O God, for the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord. Praise to You forever and ever for what You have done through Him. All glory, power, majesty, and honor to You, O God! Amen.

Pastor Jeremy Daniel continues our series on the Trinity with an exploration of the love that the Father has, not only for His Son, but for all of creation.

March 7: Saints Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs c. Late Second Century–203 Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red (When Lenten Weekday, Optional Memorial; Violet) Patron Saints of expectant mothers, widows, and butchers They bled to death as pagan eyes drank in the spectacle Many centuries ago in the desert lands of North Africa, now populated by millions of the adherents of Islam, there was once a thriving Catholic Church. Dioceses, bishops, theologians, shrines, schools, monasteries, convents, and saints filled the towns hugging the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. This vibrant Catholicism generated, and was inspired by, the witness of numerous martyrs. Many of their names are known, among them today's saints, Felicity and Perpetua. Few documents in Church history can match the raw power of the first-person, eye-witness narrative of the passion of Perpetua and Felicity. It is a gripping account filled with breathtaking dramatic detail. The reader can almost feel the hot sand of the arena warming his feet, a gentle sea breeze caressing his cheeks, and the sweaty crowd pressing against him, their roar for blood echoing through the dry air. Vivia Perpetua, twenty-two years old, was married, a noblewoman, and a new mother whose baby was still nursing. Her pagan father begged his favorite daughter to renounce her Christian faith, but to no avail. Felicity was a slave and pregnant when jailed. She gave birth a few days before her martyrdom. Her child would be raised by Christian women in Carthage. Perpetua, in her own hand, recorded the events leading up to her martyrdom, while an eyewitness to her death completed the text later. When they were first thrown into the arena, Perpetua and Felicity were attacked by a rabid heifer, which was chosen because it shared the same sex as its victims. The young women were grievously injured by the mad cow and then momentarily removed from the arena until gladiators were brought in to conclude the day's spectacle. The executioners carried out their duties quickly, though Perpetua had to guide the gladiator's sword to her throat after he first painfully struck a bone instead of a vein. As the narration states, “Perhaps such a woman...could not die unless she herself had willed it.” Saints Perpetua and Felicity were imprisoned together, suffered together, and died together in 203 A.D. in Carthage, North Africa, along with other noble martyrs whose names are preserved in the same account. The vivid description of their deaths was so moving that it was faithfully preserved down through the centuries and has come to us largely intact. Apart from the New Testament writings themselves, only a few documents from the early Church pre-date the passion narrative of Perpetua and Felicity. It invites tantalizing reflection on how many similar firsthand testimonies of famous martyrdoms from the early Church have been lost! What could have been known about the final moments of Saints Paul, Cecilia, Agatha, and so many apostles and popes! The accounts of Perpetua, Felicity, and Polycarp must fire our imagination for all the rest. The Church in North Africa so often read the account of Perpetua and Felicity in its public liturgies that Saint Augustine, a North African bishop living two hundred years after their martyrdoms, had to remind his faithful that the narrative was not on a par with Scripture itself. The fact that women and slaves, both mothers who loved their children, were willing to die rather than renounce their faith, testifies to the revolutionary message of Jesus Christ. He gave us a true religion. But He also gave us a true anthropology. He has revealed to man his true origins, his high dignity, and his ultimate purpose. Jesus reveals man to himself. So when early Christians, or present-day Christians, understand that they are made in God's image and likeness, and that His Son died for them as much as He died for anyone else, they stand a little taller. If a Christian is told he is garbage, property, a slave, old, a prisoner, or a foreigner, he shouldn't flinch at the insult, because under such denigrations is a deeper identity: “child of God,” “made in God's image and likeness,” and “worthy of the blood of the Lamb.” These are the titles of a citizen of the Kingdom of God, whose shadow covers the earth and comforts all those who live in its shade. Felicity and Perpetua clung to their identity as Christians in the face of imprisonment, ridicule, torture, and pain. The newness of the faith, and the dignity it imparted, fortified them to accept death rather than a return to rough paganism. May our faith be as fresh to us.Saints Felicity and Perpetua, your martyrdom was an act of bravery, which moved the Christians of your age and continues to move us today. Give all who invoke your names similar courage, fortitude, and faith to overcome timidity in witnessing to Christ in difficult circumstances.

A college student was supposed to pick me up at this small town airport, and I was going to go to his college to speak. He had my press photo in his hand; just one of those typical head shots...you know, you have to send out to newspapers sometimes. I didn't, of course, have a photo of him. So who would you expect to find who in that airport? It wasn't exactly LaGuardia or Kennedy or Newark Airport. There were only two gates. My flight came in and I kept waiting for someone to come up and identify themselves. But pretty soon, everybody cleared out and there were only two people left. There was me and there was this college student walking back and forth looking at a photo in his hand, looking at me, looking at the photo, looking at me.. Well, I knew his name was Jeff. I had talked to him on the phone. I said, "Is that you, Jeff?" He looked at the picture again and said, "Is that you, Ron?" I said, "It sure is!" He said, "Oh, in the picture you look tall." What? I have a tall head? I guess I just got the wrong body. Well now, anyone who wants a picture in advance, they ought to recognize the man when He comes. Right? I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Don't Miss the One You've Been Looking For." Our word for today from the Word of God actually comes from Matthew 1:21. It's part of the Christmas Story, but it's good all year. And the angel is speaking to Joseph. "'She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.' All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said to the prophet; 'The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, (That's actually a quote from the book of Isaiah.) and they will call him Immanuel, which means God with us.'" God says here "When My Son comes He'll be the fulfillment of a prophecy." He will, in fact, be the fulfillment of scores of prophecies. For two thousand years God had been sending ahead a picture of what His Son would look like when He came to earth. It's sort of like an inverted pyramid. It starts out very broad and comes down to a very narrowly focused picture in advance of what the Messiah will look like. In Genesis 3:15, way back in the Garden of Eden, God says the answer to sin would be a descendent of Eve. In other words, a man would come. Then in Genesis 12:15, He says what nation He'll come from. Of all the nations on earth, it says that the Messiah's blessings will come through the Nation of Israel. Then in Genesis 49, God narrows it down a little more; gives us a little more focused photograph. He says what tribe He will come from out of the twelve tribes of Israel...look for Him to come from the tribe of Judah. Now in Isaiah 11:1 He narrows it down to the family. He says He'll come out of the family of David. Isaiah 7, the method - a virgin birth. How could you miss it? Micah 5:2 - He says, "Now, here's the place. He'll be born in a little village called Bethlehem." Isaiah 53 describes His death. The book of Zachariah even tells the number of pieces of silver He'll be betrayed for. They had the picture in their hands back then and they didn't recognize Him. John 1:11, "He came to His own and His own did not receive Him." You say, "How could they miss Him?" Well how can we? We don't just have prophecies, we've got history. We know He walked out of His grave under His own power. He's identified himself to you as the one you've been looking for. Could it be you're still withholding your allegiance? Could it be you're circling Him like that fellow did at the airport with me; checking out who He is? Well, sometime you've got to do something with Jesus. John 1:12 says, "As many as received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God." Maybe sometime for you is today. You don't need evidence now, you need faith. Don't circle Jesus any more. Come to Him and say, "Lord, you're the one I've spent a lifetime searching for." I would invite you to join me at our website. It's called ANewStory.com. It could be the beginning of your new story. If you'll tell Jesus, "I'm Yours," you will finally be home in a relationship you were created for.

Faced with oppression, poverty, and life-threatening circumstances in the country of Burma years ago, our guest, Nita Tin, Buddist and lost with Jesus, fled her country.   Hear this victorious message of hope that only God could provide and how she found Jesus at a critical time. Hear what God is now doing with her incredible life story.   *****   Kimberly Hobbs   Welcome to empowering lives with purpose. And I'm your host, Kimberly Hobbs. I'm the founder of Women, world leaders. Today ladies, we have such an incredible story. And I am so excited to introduce our guest. And pray that through this time together, you are going to hear an amazing victory story full of hope. And it's going to be brought to us by Mrs. Nita.Tin. Hi, Nita. Nita Tin   Hi, Kimberly, it's so lovely to be here with you. Kimberly Hobbs   And we are so blessed to have you and, and ladies that have joined in return, ladies and women that are just maybe tuning in for the first time. We are here as a ministry to encourage you, and empower you to run after Jesus to see what your beautiful purpose and serving him might be. And through learning about some of these stories, and all of the different things that so many of our sisters go through around the world, that this can encourage and inspire you to walk after God to seek Him with all that in you and find that beautiful purpose that He has just for you because we believe wholeheartedly, that God has a purpose and a plan for your life, ladies. So God says in Ephesians 210, that we are God's masterpiece, we are created anew in Christ Jesus to do the very good things that he planned for us long ago. And as I'm going to share about a Anita or Anita I want to share in a little bit of length about who she is. Because this is all going to add to her story when you guys listen to how amazing God showed up in her life. And she has an incredible story. And actually, there's been a she's been writing a book and there's also a screenplay that's been written and she's going to talk more about that later. But it's it's just phenomenal what God has done with her life. So Anita is the co founder and Chief Chief Operations Officer for her husband's eye surgery practice in need to 10 Helton held the role of practice administrator for 40 plus years. She's a graduate of the University of Rangoon, Burma, and received her Bachelor of Arts degree Gulati with honors in the English language and literature. She's a former Buddhist. She is originally from Burma, currently known as my Inmar and trusted the Lord Jesus as her Savior after she arrived in Chattanooga nearly 50 years ago. She's a Christian motivational speaker, nationally and internationally. She's a leader and a Bible study teacher, and she has helped plant 1100 churches in Nepal. She's been on Moody Bible radio with Kay Arthur, and focus on the family. She has written, directed and acted as lead role in a dramatic, motivational, inspirational musical Easter drama that she's written. Anita wrote inductive Bible study guides, and her memoir heartbeat of a survivor love that could not let me go. And a film script, as I was telling you about has been written, and it was called it is called love beyond borders. Anita has a story of God's unending love to share and it describes herself as an empty broken vessel saved to tell the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Sonita Here we go. Let's talk today about your story of victory and being set free from the bondage in Burma where you began your life. Let's start there. Nita Tin   I'm passionate about sharing my journey because I was sick free from bondage, fear and tyranny to a life overflowing with freedom, joy and love to the valleys and hard trials in my life. I discovered that no, no matter what the circumstance of bondage, the pain, the heart ache, the loss or the sorrow. Change can be broken, and life can be abundant and meaningful. I grew up as a rich Burmese girl brought up in the Buddhist religion, in search of satisfying the longing in my heart and from a young child. I wanted to know God. Jeremiah 2913, says, You will seek me and find me when you search for me with your whole heart. And God, my loving pursuing father, in his infinite kindness, was drawing me to himself, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness, have I drawn you this verse in Jeremiah 31 Three, in a nutshell, is what God has orchestrated in my life. Two weeks after my 16th birthday, he God has a sense of humor, doesn't he? I was seen and he brought a gentle physician and surgeon into my life, who by His very love for His Heavenly Father, and the life that he lived, was instrumental in bringing me to the feet of Jesus, my Savior. our married life was interwoven with sorrow and hardship, that threatened to break our spirits and steal our joy. But finally, through atrocious circumstances that made it impossible for us to remain in Burma, a brutal massacre, my father's imprisonment and torture, loss of freedom, the absolute control our ruthless military dictator who took over Burma, and the struggle and poverty which we fought through in the jungle where we had been sent to. This forced us to live, family, home, friends and country. After waiting too long years get back by the oppressive government. We willingly signed papers, stating that we were traitors to our country, we left all our possessions, treasured photographs, jewelry, including my wedding and engagement rings, and everything we owned, and boarded a British Airways jet plane bound for America, never looking back. And on November 3 1973, we flew into New York's Kennedy Airport, our life was marked with poverty, and sorrow, liberty and joy. And in all of this, God poured out His riches and his blessings, and gave us himself as God said to Abraham, via not, I am thy shield and I exceeding great reward. This is a faith journey of an ending marital romance, of God's story that is so rooted in a never ending spiritual hunger, and an ever growing experience of God's love. As God became my hiding place and fought my battles for me. Heartbeat of a survival will open the heart rending stories of battles, I could not fight where the Lord becomes my strength, my shield, my buckler, my strong tower, when there were times when all I could hear as he holds me up are his gentle, gently whispered sigma things, and my tearful, Broken Heart answers, dive face, oh, Lord, will I seek? Kimberly Hobbs   Oh, my goodness, Nita, my heart, my heart, because as you described, being back in Burma, and the the pain and the tragedy that you went through, even knowing your father was tortured, in prison, and all of the horrific things that you faced while you were there had to bring hardship to your heart. But God provided this amazing physician, this man that you grew to love, that also shared your faith. Like he, he shared faith with you, as a Buddhist, you started to learn things. So let's, let's talk right now like ladies, as you're listening to this, we can't even imagine, you know, being in another country and in going through poverty and no food and being tortured and all of the things that she that Anita had to endure. Maybe some of you have been through something like that in your life. You've faced poverty you've faced being without and you were hurting. But God says when your troubles seem to You big. He's there, ladies, he's there. What is impossible for people is possible with God. And, Anita, as you came to the United States, your love and your joy grew as your husband's faith became your own. So can you talk about those years of growing with your husband and learning more and more about his faith? Nita Tin   Well, we fell in love when I was 16. And in my first year in college, he was 19 years old and a third year medical student. And it was his gentleness and love for Jesus that drew me to him. If anyone had all the fruit of the Spirit my husband did through my teenage years, and our young adult married life. It was his gentle, unwavering, steadfast faith that brought me through the trauma of the mass student massacre, when the brutal government in Burma shot down the unarmed university students. And it was his unwavering love for God that held me as we struggled to live in the jungle, through floods, disease, poverty, and sickness. And when we finally left home, family, friends and country, through prosperity and loss, my love and joy grew, as my husband's faith became my own, as Kimberly said, and when it was time, God's time, through my husband's constant prayers. And through first John 513, to 15, God opened my eyes to His wonderful gift of mercy. And I accepted Jesus as my Savior, but says, and this is the record that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son, He that has the Son has life, he then has not the Son of God has not learned these things have I written unto you, that you may know, and that you may believe in the Son of God. And so, you know, his his fate, through prosperity and loss, as I was saying, My love and faith grew, as my husband's faith became my own. And when it was time, God's time, that was what he did. A peace that passes, all understanding became mine. Kimberly Hobbs   Nita, I love that. And I heard the joy in your voice, as you shared about finding Jesus and, ladies, we, we just know if you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you know, the joy and the freedom that comes into your life when you experience that, that acceptance of him for your sin that he paid the price he came in, and he freed you from all your bondage from all of your trials and tribulations. And that's what he did for Anita. And we thank the Lord, for Your husband's faith, Anita, and that he was able to lead you to Jesus, what a beautiful love story and a completion of that marriage. And, you know, ladies, we all we all have a God's story, because God's doing something in your life, your life is an amount for something, you have to believe that and God's story. You say, Anita, you say God's story is not it. It's his story in your life. And you want to share that story. So I just want to read a Scripture before Anita testifies of something else. But God says, All Glory to God who is able to keep you from falling away and we'll bring you great joy into his glorious presence. And we all heard that joy and Anita his voice as she found the presence of God in her life, and All Glory to Him Who alone is God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power and authority are his before all time and in the present, and beyond all time, amen. It's Jude 124 to 25. So now need to share about through all your trials and pain. You can testify of God's victorious love and what he has done for UNITA a love that could not let you go please talk and share about that right now. Nita Tin   I had to come to the end of myself. When it seemed as though I had reached the bottom of the pit. My Heavenly Father's love was deeper than my deepest pit and covered me in my pain and distress. As we're hanging on the side of a mountain, I could not time my gentle Shepherd lifted me up in his arms of love. When I could not bear the pain of cancer, my losses, my sorrow and my headache. My faithful God who sees me, and here's me, carried me. My victory came when I gave God, everything in my life was in total surrender, in coming to the realization that I could not do it. And then I had to let go, and let God take over that I was able to overcome. It was simply putting my trust in the sovereignty and power of God, to know that it was not my strength, but his that it was not my power, but his. I had to learn that he is the potter and I'm just the clay. But this blows my mind in all of that, he is the refiner. But he was also in the fire with me. Shouts of my victory cry up laced in the pages of these rich memoirs, as I hold on to the promises in Psalm 27. One the day of trouble, he will conceal me in His tabernacle, he will hide me in the secret place of his tent, he will lift me up on a rock, now in my head, be lifted up above my enemy's round about me, and I will offer sacrifices in his tent with shouts of joy, I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. I suffered extreme poverty, but he became my sufficiency. I suffered emptiness, but he became my friend, my companion, I suffered depression. But he became my joy, my hope, my light, it took away my empty, restless heart, and gave me a new heart. He took my empty religion and gave me new life. He took me from my family, and brought me into his family. He told me my empty religion and gave me new life. He took away my material possessions and gave me himself. In my weakness. He became my strength. Kimberly Hobbs   Wow, wow. So beautifully said, Anita. And I love what you said about you were in the fire. But he was right there with you. Yes, right there with you. And through seeking Him and searching in his word, he became alive to you in so many ways. And just like you said, he became your defender, he became your protector, your provider, everything that you could think of he was there and ladies, you may be in the fire right now. And Anita and I both want to encourage you that God is there. He's there, right there. Just reach out and talk to him. Ladies, there's answers all through his word. That's why he provides the Bible for us. Because what we need is just nestled in all of the pages of His Holy Word. And we encourage you to go there and just look and read and read and know that God has a plan for you reading His word. Anita, if you can right now, I would love you had such tremendous courage what you and your husband did to leave that country that was so persecuted and you were as well, you lost your family, you left them, you left everything you owned, to come here with nothing that took courage, courage. So right now, the woman that's listening, she needs that courage belt, she needs to be encouraged in the Lord. So can you speak to your sister right now the sister listener who can have victory and true hope in her life? Please just give her a word from your heart that will speak deeply and be planted that she can take away with today. Nita Tin   Throughout my story, there is one strong thread. It is the unending covenantal all consuming love of God. precious hearts. God's love is for you. As Jehovah Sharma He longs to hold you in his to his breasts as a mother would her child He longs to pour out his mercy, his grace, his peace upon you The Lord gave me victory in the darkest, deepest steps. And you Beloved child of God, you can have the same victory. The God who hides me in the depths of his seventh tabernacle, and fights, my battles for me, is the same God, who will hide you in the secret place of his tent, and fight your battles for you. God is writing his story. And we, we get to become a part of it, nothing is wasted. We have the wonderful opportunity of joining him where he is already working. Yes, you may sometimes feel that you are being pummeled. And at times, you may feel that you just can't go on. Don't give up becoming a trophy of His grace, His masterpiece, that is lighting up the dark, and drawing those who sit in darkness while waiting to hear his story of salvation through Amazing Grace. Are you disappointed with your life? Are you discouraged because things are not turning out the way you have planned? Do you feel trapped in your past? Are you going through more than you can bear Take heart, God can see around the corner where we cannot, we may not see the understand side of the tapestry. He is weaving in your life and mine. But he knows and sees the other side, which will finally have the beautiful patterns he has planned for you and me. God does Kay. He hears us when we call and speaks to us if we will listen. As CS Lewis wrote, he whispers to us in our pleasures, but shouts in our being, we will always walk with us in our trials and suffering. be comforted that he knows and fields have been because he has already gone before us. He loves us so much he died for us. So run into his outstretched and stretched arms. He is waiting for you. Kimberly Hobbs   That is amazing. encouragement, thank you so much. He is waiting for you ladies run into his arms run. There's no time like today, to run into the arms of Jesus and surrender your heart to Him. He's waiting for you ladies. He's waiting. He wants all of you, all of you. So I just pray and need to praise that you can surrender your heart to Him today and let him take you through the fires that you're going through right now. He is a loving God, He cares about you. And he's going to bring you through them for a purpose, which you are going to walk out in your life. You may not see it now. But know that God is there. And he is he has a plan for you just like that opening scripture. You are his masterpiece He created you knew in Christ Jesus, right. So he has things planned for you from very long ago, before you were even born. He had a plan for you run after him. And Anita, you are just so delightful. I love talking to you. You just bless my heart. I respect you for all that you know in love in our Lord Jesus Christ and teach to so many. I want to just ask you right now, you wrote a book, and there was a screenplay written about your life. Can you talk about that for just a minute? Nita Tin   Yeah, actually, I don't know if you can see it. But this is the cover of the book. And it says, heartbeat of a survival. And it's from Golden pagodas to land of liberty in search of something more. And, you know, this is a book that God impressed upon my heart to write, but somehow he brings into our life, a film director who's just listened to our story within two days, she said, I'm going to write your film script. And she called it was a love story and she called it love beyond borders. So we're waiting to see what God's gonna do. And I'm just you know, excited about what he will do in his own time and in his own way. Kimberly Hobbs   Oh, that's so beautiful Anita and ladies, will you please pray over love beyond borders and play it pray over neat as book which is going to be come published and and how do the ladies find you? Nita, if they want to reach out and email you or talk to you, do you want to share any way that they can reach out to you? Nita Tin   Yes, my, you can reach out to me to email. And it is my name, Anita Qin X L, like for extra large, or you could think of it as excellent. So it's needed in excel@yahoo.com. And you can also find me on Facebook. It's needed in and you know, you can send me messages through that, I will talk to you, or I will, you know, I will email you and let you know what the progress is, if you want to, Kimberly Hobbs   That's so beautiful. And so I encourage you ladies reach out to Anita, talk to her and ask her some questions about her life and, and get ready for this amazing book and movie and she can let you know when that is going to come out. And ladies, as we close up, there's a couple things that I just want to share with you, especially scripture. That is we were talking about being victorious in Jesus. God's Word says that God's way is perfect. All of the Lord's promises prove true. He is a shield for all who looked to him for protection, Psalm 1830. And as need to look to God for protection, and had that amazing covering over her life. That can be the same for you. His promises are true ladies. That's why please go to his word, search out his word, know that His promises are true. And you can be victorious and Jesus, God says, I hold you by your right hand, I the LORD your God. And I say to you, don't be afraid. I am here to help you. That Scripture gives me goosebumps because God is here to help each and every one of us. He's here to help us. He says that in His Word. And remember, he cannot go contrary to what he says. So those last words of that sentence, he says, I am here to help you. That's Isaiah 4113. Take that scripture carry it with you memorize it, hold on to it, when the doubts are coming in when the depressions coming in when the want to give up is setting in in your life. Don't you allow that, as Anita was talking about victory victory and Jesus, women were leaders put out a book called victories. And it's claiming freedom in Christ. And that's available on our website. There's so much help in this ladies. There are teachings in here there are stories from women around the world. But one of the things is that you can glean from these teachings having victory overcoming addictions, overcoming different challenges in your life. It's all in here. It's an amazing book. And since Nieto was talking about victories today, I thought I would share about that book with you. It's an Amazon number one best seller. It is a seven time best seller. You can get it on Amazon as well. But we would love it if you got it through women world leaders.com. And ladies, I just want to say thank you to you, Anita for sharing your heart today. You are delightful and a blessing. Nita Tin   Thank you for having me. It was so much joy. So much love. Kimberly Hobbs   Amen. Amen. And I am just so glad that you reached out to tell the ladies they can communicate with you and I pray that they will do that. I pray that they will do that. So as we close ladies, we again we are a team together right all working toward having a closer walk with Jesus. And so we just invite you to be part and from his heart to yours. We are women world leaders all content is copyrighted by women, more leaders and cannot be used without expressed written consent. God bless all of you and have a beautiful day.

In Galatians 4:1, it was common knowledge at that time, that under Roman law, a child was not legally considered a son until the age of 14. The son owned everything at birth right, but had no access to it until they came of age. In the same way, as we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we become heirs of God's sonship, receiving all the right as heirs to the Kingdom of God. Sometimes we grasp in our minds that God is Father, but not always receiving adoption as sons & daughters in our hearts. God sent His Son, Jesus, to save us, and He sent the Holy Spirit of His Son to experience the fullness of God's sonship. The Holy Spirit transforms our hearts to know that God loves us deeply and enables us to have a relationship with Him. The Holy Spirit and our relationship with God, is our inheritance. It is a gift of intimacy, love, and power. That kind of access would have been unthinkable under the law. But as Christians, under the new covenant, we can come to the Lord at all times. When we are brought into the family of God, we are no longer required to live under the law, but we do have a responsibility to live according to the ways Jesus instructed us. To forgive, to conduct ourselves in a way that brings honor and glory to Jesus, to share the Gospel, to help others in need, to fully follow Christ. We are not to disqualify ourselves as heirs to God's Kingdom. We have access, affection, authority, and assurance in Jesus Christ. We can deeply experience the faith filled recognition and confidence in our Abba. We can trust completely in the assurance of Christ and His plan for our lives. We know intellectually that God is our Father, but we need to know in our whole heart, that we are His children, and can fully embrace the love of our Father. 

THE STATUS AND BENEFITS OF THOSE IN CHRIST! ROMANS 5-8 MARCH 5, 2023 SESSION 7 è Review: Romans 8:1, 2; Romans 5:1-2; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Spiritual Laws; Walking in the Spirit; The flesh and strongholds; Remember, Renounce, and Reinforce (Romans 8:9-13; 2 Corinthians 10:4-6) ✴ The Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and continually speaks the Truth in our spirit-man. (John 16:13) è Who You Are In Christ: • God's Child, and heir, Christ's Joint-Heir! (Romans 8:15-17) Born to Glorify God (1 Corinthians 6:20; 2 Corinthians 3:18) Born to Love (1 John 4:7-11, 16; John 13:34, 35) • A Kingdom Citizen: (Colossians 1:13; Philippians 3:20) • Operates under the King's Authority • All Authority given to the King, conveyed to His Son in Heaven and earth's realms! (Matthew 28:18) • Seek First the Kingdom (Matthew 6:33) Become Kingdom-minded! è What You Have In Christ! • Every spiritual Blessing! (Ephesians 1:3-7) • Access to the Father • Significance, security • Available wisdom, direction • Authority, victory over enemy

At Jesus' Crucifixion and Death, the “Temple Veil” Was Torn; After Jesus Easter Resurrection, You Now Pray Directly with God MESSAGE SUMMARY:  Think about the magnitude of your direct and personal access to God that your prayers give you, through Jesus, if you will only pray. Before Jesus, ordinary people did not have direct access to God, through the Throne Room of God, with a direct personal relationship with God. In Old Testament times, people would come to the priests; and the priest would offer up a sacrifice on behalf of the people. The priests, and not the people, were communing directly with God. On Good Friday and at Jesus death on the cross, the “Temple Veil” was torn from top to bottom (i.e. “Temple Vail” was a large, very thick, and very heavy barrier that divided that portion of the Temple accessible by those wishing to sacrifice for prayer and the “Holy of Holies” where the only the High Priest could meet with God and pray on behalf of the people of God.). At Jesus Resurrection, no longer was an intermediary (e.g., a Priest) required for direct prayer with God by the people in Christ (i.e. Jesus Followers).  Because Jesus created a New Covenant relationship with His followers, now your prayers are in direct communion with God, the Creator of the Universe. Everyone, who is in Christ, may have access to the Throne Room of God in the name of Jesus. What a privilege this direct access to God is for those who are in Christ. The author of Hebrews, in Hebrews 4:16, tells Jesus Followers that, because of the Gospel, you have direct access to God's “throne of Grace” for your needs: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.".   TODAY'S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus' name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM A CHILD OF GOD. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. John 1:12f SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Philippians 4:1-13; John 15:9-10; Revelation 4:1-2; Psalms 69c:25-36. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “How God Says He Loves Us: Part 2 -- The Covenant with Abraham” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/    DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Let me not forget my function. Today's idea is merely another way of saying "Let me not wander into temptation." The purpose of the world you see is to obscure your function of forgiveness, and provide you with a justification for forgetting it. It is the temptation to abandon God and His Son by taking on a physical appearance. It is this the body's eyes look upon. Nothing the body's eyes seem to see can be anything but a form of temptation, since this was the purpose of the body itself. Yet we have learned that the Holy Spirit has another use for all the illusions you have made, and therefore He sees another purpose in them. To the Holy Spirit, the world is a place where you learn to forgive yourself what you think of as your sins. In this perception, the physical appearance of temptation becomes the spiritual recognition of salvation. To review our last few lessons, your function here is to be the light of the world, a function given you by God. It is only the arrogance of the ego that leads you to question this, and only the fear of the ego that induces you to regard yourself as unworthy of the task assigned to you by God Himself. The world's salvation awaits your forgiveness, because through it does the Son of God escape from all illusions, and thus from all temptation. The Son of God is you. Only by fulfilling the function given you by God will you be happy. That is because your function is to be happy by using the means by which happiness becomes inevitable. There is no other way. Therefore, every time you choose whether or not to fulfill your function, you are really choosing whether or not to be happy. Let us remember this today. Let us remind ourselves of it in the morning and again at night, and all through the day as well. Prepare yourself in advance for all the decisions you will make today by remembering they are all really very simple. Each one will lead to happiness or unhappiness. Can such a simple decision really be difficult to make? Let not the form of the decision deceive you. Complexity of form does not imply complexity of content. It is impossible that any decision on earth can have a content different from just this one simple choice. That is the only choice the Holy Spirit sees. Therefore it is the only choice there is. Today, then, let us practice with these thoughts: Let me not forget my function. Let me not try to substitute mine for God's. Let me forgive and be happy. At least once devote ten or fifteen minutes today to reflecting on this with closed eyes. Related thoughts will come to help you, if you remember the crucial importance of your function to you and to the world. In the frequent applications of today's idea throughout the day, devote several minutes to reviewing these thoughts, and then thinking about them and about nothing else. This will be difficult, at first particularly, since you are not proficient in the mind discipline that it requires. You may need to repeat "Let me not forget my function" quite often to help you concentrate. Two forms of shorter practice periods are required. At times, do the exercises with your eyes closed, trying to concentrate on the thoughts you are using. At other times, keep your eyes open after reviewing the thoughts, and then look slowly and unselectively around you, telling yourself: This is the world it is my function to save.- Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracles, Lesson 64

REVIEWING THE QUESTIONSHow long would you have had to follow Jesus around until you saw someone healed?How long would someone have to follow YOU around until they saw someone healed!?!?Previous Healing messages - 1. Healing Revisited 1.0 – The Issue of God's Will / 2. Healing Revisited 2.0 – The Issue of FearMESSAGE - HEALING Revisited 3.0  - The ISSUE OF LACK OF LOVEWhy don't we heal the sick? •Ignorance•Deception / False Teaching (God's will, Gifts ceased)•Unbelief•Fear – Fear of Failure? Fear of Man?•Lack of LovePicture of Love - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQv6zN06JHA What motivated Jesus? •Matthew 14:14 - And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick.•Romans 5:5 - And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.Lack of Love - My greatest issue/sin•1 John 3:17-18 - But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.If anyone has the Holy Spirit inside of them, with the mandate and authority to heal the sick and sees someone who needs healing, yet closes his heart against him-how can God's love be in that person?” (DOV – Dave's Ouch Version)How do we get "this love"? - 1st way - BY HOLY SPIRIT•Romans 5:5 - And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.How do we get "this love"? - 1st way - THROUGH OBEDIENCE•1 John 2:4-5 - 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps His word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.•1 John 2:15-16 - 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life —is not from the Father but is from the world.•1 John 5:2-3 - 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.•1 John 4:7-12 - 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us.•1 John 4:16-21 - 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as He is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because He first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.OUR RESPONSE•Obedience – Time to REPENT again. Confess. •Encounter – God's love deposited by the Holy Spirit, “love is from God”•Commitment 

Be humble that God has revealed His Son to us  Jesus is perfect  You can not do anything without God  Serve the Lord with fear   

How God Says He Loves Us: Part 2 -- The Covenant with Abraham MESSAGE SUMMARY: Throughout human history, God has reached out to humans for a personal relationship and to express His love for humankind. We have a God that loves us so much, and God's love for us is expressed to us through His “covenants”. Also, God's “covenants” reveal to us His grace and faithfulness. In today's message, we will discuss God's Covenant with Abram and Abraham. A “covenant” can be defined as an “oath or promise of God”. In a Biblical covenant: 1) God establishes the Covenant; 2) God always implies that “I am your God, and you are my people” – God desires a personal relationship with us; and 3) God sets the covenant's terms and rulers. In Genesis 12:1-5, God presents His promise to Abram: “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.". In Genesis 15:18, God makes a covenant with Abram: “On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your offspring I give his land . . .'”. In Genesis 17:4-5, God makes another covenant with Abram changing Abram's name to Abraham: “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.". in Genesis 21-1-4, Abraham's son through Sarah, that God had promised Abraham, is born: “The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.”. In Genesis 22:1-18, the final part of God's covenant with Abraham is found when God provided the blood sacrifice of the lamb that sealed His covenant with Abraham: “And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, ‘By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.'”. The significance of God's covenant with Abraham includes: 1) Abraham believed God and had faith, and because of Abraham's faith God made Abraham righteous – foretells the significance of the Gospel because God's covenant through Jesus for us is a covenant of faith; 2) God's covenant with Abraham foreshadows His covenant through Jesus as he Messiah, the Christ – Isaac is the first legitimate son of Abraham, and Jesus is considered the last son through Abraham, Isaac voluntarily went to the alter and Jesus voluntarily went to the cross, Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice and God gave His Son as a sacrifice; 3) God's covenant is still being fulfilled today – in a physical sense, the covenant is fulfilled through the Arabs and the Jews since both consider Abraham as their father and fulfilled in a spiritual sense through Jesus as Paul tells us in Galatians 3:14: “so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.". Remember, the God who made covenant with Abraham is Jesus.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus' name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM A CHILD OF GOD. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. John 1:12f SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Romans 10:9; Genesis 9:20-29; Genesis 3:15; Genesis 12:1-9; Genesis 15:1-27; 1 Peter 3:18-21; John 3:16-17; Hebrews 11:6; Galatians 3:7-9,14-16,29. SCRIPTURE REFERENCE SEARCH: www.AWFTL.org/bible-search/ A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “At Jesus' Crucifixion and Death, the “Temple Veil” Was Torn; After Jesus Easter Resurrection, You Now Pray Directly with God”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/   DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Sunday, 5 March 2023   And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them. Acts 15:4   In the previous verse, Paul and Barnabas were on their way up to Jerusalem passing through Phoenicia and Samaria describing the conversion of the Gentiles. With that, this verse begins with, “And when they had come to Jerusalem.”   Jerusalem is the focal point of the religious life of the church at this point. Those in authority were there and they oversaw the affairs of the church. It is for this reason that the company had been sent to Jerusalem. The matter to be decided was of the utmost importance because it dealt with the very heart of the gospel, which is salvation by grace through faith.   If it was determined that the Gentiles had to observe the Law of Moses before being saved, or after being saved in order to continue to be saved, it would essentially mean that Christ's coming was for naught. It would have been a pointless gesture that changed nothing. As such, they went to Jerusalem to see what the leaders determined, and “they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders.”   The sense is that there would have been a meeting of the church body that worshiped in the various individual locations around Jerusalem and maybe even in Judea. Mentioning the apostles would then be those who were designated by the Lord for the apostolic ministry. This would have included Matthias, who was selected by lot in Acts 1. The specific naming of the elders would be those who presided over the individual bodies throughout the area.   To get a sense of the gathering, one might think of a corporate board meeting where there are stockholders, the corporate board, and then the heads of the individual offices. These have all come together to determine a matter set forth before them. Once gathered, Paul and Barnabas would then be asked to speak. With this, it next says, “and they reported all things that God had done with them.”   Their words would have spoken of their time in Antioch, the words of the Holy Spirit, saying, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the workd to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2). The details of their long and productive missionary journey, their time back in Antioch teaching the disciples, and finally the assault by the Judaizers throwing the believers into confusion while they were still in Antioch.   It is most likely that at this point that the words of the next verse will come forth. Paul and Barnabas would have spoken of freedom in Christ, the conversion of the Gentiles, the signs and wonders that had come about through their ministry, etc. But for such joyous things and such great freedom, there will always be those who want to steal those things away.   Life application: The events taking place in Acts 15 have a great bearing on everything that will follow in the church age. If the determination sided against the stand of Paul and Barnabas, the church would have become a chaotic offshoot of Judaism, like the many sects that were in Israel at the time. It would have been a religion of bondage and legalistic standards heaped on top of the words of Moses, just as all of the other sects had become.   But this is not unusual even in today's world. There are many cults and sects within Christianity that return to Moses in part or (supposedly) in whole. They demand observance of those things Christ came to fulfill. Others make various demands on individual freedoms.   For example, some fundamental churches teach that men should not wear beards, as if that has any bearing on a relationship with Christ. Such things only damage the freedom of worship that has been ordained by God through the giving of His Son.   Let us hold fast to the words of Scripture, allowing what it does not forbid, and forbidding what it does not allow. Those things on which it is silent are not something God determined we need to fret about. If you are unhappy with the way an individual church meeting gathers, don't attend there. But if it is not doing anything contrary to Scripture, let them be. Let the word be the rule and guide for what you do, and you will do well.   Lord God, may we hold fast to Your word, letting it fill us with right thinking and proper instruction. May we not legalistically add to it, and may we never consider that it gives us license to do that which is wrong. Rather, help us to be steadfast in holding to Your word at all times. To Your glory, we pray this. Amen.

The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness. How holy are you who have the power to bring peace to every mind! How blessed are you who can learn to recognize the means for letting this be done through you! What purpose could you have that would bring you greater happiness? You are indeed the light of the world with such a function. The Son of God looks to you for his redemption. It is yours to give him, for it belongs to you. Accept no trivial purpose or meaningless desire in its place, or you will forget your function and leave the Son of God in hell. This is no idle request that is being asked of you. You are being asked to accept salvation that it may be yours to give. Recognizing the importance of this function, we will be happy to remember it very often today. We will begin the day by acknowledging it, and close the day with the thought of it in our awareness. And throughout the day we will repeat this as often as we can: The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness. I am the means God has appointed for the salvation of the world. If you close your eyes, you will probably find it easier to let the related thoughts come to you in the minute or two that you should devote to considering this. Do not, however, wait for such an opportunity. No chance should be lost for reinforcing today's idea. Remember that God's Son looks to you for his salvation. And who but your Self must be His Son?- Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracles, Lesson 63

Ephesians 6:10-13 — What does it mean to know God and His word? Some say that by merely knowing many facts about the Bible, they truly know God. But in this sermon on Ephesians 6:10–13 titled “Knowledge Puffs Up,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches on the need to know God with true knowledge. Many Christians are tempted to think about the Bible as just another book from which to learn. But this is not the Bible of the living God. Scripture demands that Christians approach it as God's word and in a way that they learn who God is. Mere theoretical knowledge is not the goal of Christian growth. Christians must encounter God as He has revealed Himself in His word, and they must look to Scripture as the speech of God. Christians must seek to know God, not merely know about Him. They must have a personal knowledge of God. Theological debates cannot replace loving God and each other, for true knowledge of God is a saving knowledge based in His Son, Jesus Christ. This sermon calls each and every Christian to a deeper and fuller knowledge of God as found in His word.